Earth's Mightiest Heroes
by The Browncoat
Summary: Rebooted! See Harry Potter: Agent of SHIELD.
1. Welcome to Manhattan

_**Earth's Mightiest Heroes**_

_The story of how Harry Potter, twin brother of the Boy Who Lived, rose from being forgotten to being on of Earth's Mightiest Heroes._

**Author's Note: **I am currently putting on hold all of my other projects whilst I work on _Earth's Mightiest Heroes. _I'm sorry for all of you who are following them, but I have limited time to work on fanfictions now with College stuff, Book Reviewing and writing my own WIP novel, _London's Burning, _which is an urban fantasy (not paranormal romance) novel that currently has 18k-ish words written towards it and it is a project that I aim to write 80k-90k words at the most. After I have got lot chapters out of the way for _Earth's Mightiest Heroes, _I may return to my previous projects.

**Notes: **No Slash, and the only pairing that I may consider a paring between Natasha/Harry, but don't expect that to happen within the first few chapters. Comics-only characters may also make an appearance, as well as characters from X-Men, Fantastic Four and Spiderman, but that won't be for a while. Basically, although its prime focus is the Avengers films, there will be other Marvel characters along for the ride as well. I'll try to get a chapter up at least once a week, but it may be a bit hectic as I'm aiming for around 2k words rather than my usual 1k-2k at most, per chapter.

**Plot Summary: **_Having been denounced by his family in favour of his twin brother, Harry leaves the Potter Household after clearing his NEWTS and embarks on a journey to New York City. But as soon as he arrives, he finds himself kidnapped by a group of armed terrorists lead by a man calling himself Moriarty. In order to escape, Harry must resort to drastic measures. But escaping from the Moriarty's elusive Court of Nightmares is just the beginning..._

Yes, I took the name Moriarty from _Sherlock Holmes. _But it's not _the _Moriarty, as you'll find out eventually.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that you recognise.

-/ _Before the events of Iron Man. _-/

**PHASE 1: THE COURT OF NIGHTMARES**

This story will be divided into a number of "Phases", in a similar way to the Marvel Universe. Phase 1 will be Harry's storyline, which is _The Court of Nightmares, _and then we'll see what happens from there. There will eventually be an Avengers Phase, but not for a long time yet as I intend to give Harry his own "origin story", and then drag him through the individual character's movies.

**Chapter One: **_**Welcome to Manhattan**_

**I**

Harry Potter never had used a plane before as transport, and indeed – he'd only just learnt to apparate, but if there was one thing about the adventurous, black haired twin brother of the Boy Who Lived that he was good at, then that was trying new things. He had – unnaturally for a Potter, been a Ravenclaw at Hogwarts (if only to get away from Gryffindor, the house that his brother was destined for from the first time he'd heard his father talk about them), and was one of the smartest students in the school. He wasn't a genius, mind you – but he still knew a lot of stuff by the end of his seventh year.

That stuff included an up-to-date idiot's guide on muggle life, society, culture and government. Whereas his parents had been out-of-touch for the muggle world for so long that they had forgotten to keep up with the current events (part of the reason was that there was only one muggle born in the Potter family, his own mother), Harry regularly read newspapers during the summer, sneaking out into the muggle area of the local town of Godric's Hollow to use the marvellous invention of the internet in the Internet Cafes, as well as browse back copies of newspapers in stores.

As a result, he was fairly up to date with everything, all things considered. But when the plane touched down in Manhattan, he still found himself awed by the skyline presented to him of the city that never sleeps. Moments later though, as he began to walk towards the passport control, all hell broke loose.

As expected.

Guns began to fire in the air, and people started screaming. Even though it was the middle of the day with packed airport security, people still thought that they would be able to kill people here and get away with it. Alarms began to wail loudly, as Harry ducked to the floor like everybody else in the open that could not run for it, as he began to search for the attackers. He noticedthat there were ten of them, _ten _terrorists, all armed. And already people were dead.

"Alright, we're looking for Harry Potter!" a shout went up from one of the terrorists, and Harry gulped as he realised it was him that he was looking for. '_How could they possibly know I'm here? Who are these people? Why do they want me?' _He could easily apparate out of here within seconds, and leave airport security to do their work. He could hear police sirens in the distance, and smiled, knowing that the terrorists did not have much time. People were glancing around as if expecting the stranger known as Harry Potterto show himself, and spare them of the hostage situation. "Give us Harry Potter, and we'll let you go in peace! Nobody else has to die today!"

"Who's Harry Potter?" asked a blonde-haired woman in her mid thirties that was towards the front of the crowd, near the armed terrorists. She was evidently brave enough to speak. "Is there anyone here called Harry Potter?"

"Yes," Harry said, raising his hand and climbing to his feet. _'Alright. Stalling time.' _Several gasps could be heard from the nearby civilians as the terrorists turned their guns in unison to his direction. Fearing slightly for his life, as he didn't want to use magic in front of this many civilians – such a thing would surely be an end to the statue of secrecy in seconds. "I'm Harry Potter. What do you want with me?"

"Our master wants to have a talk with you," a scarred, brown-haired terrorist responded, AK-47 held directly at Harry. "About things that should not be discussed around this filth."

When it became clear that he was talking about the muggles, Harry advanced forward and dared to ask, "Who is your Master?"

"He goes by many names," the terrorist replied. "But you do not need to know them just yet. Now, Potter. Step forward. It is time we made our departure."

"How do you intend to leave? The police are arriving and the airport security will be here within moments," Harry responded, firmly, trying to think of a way out of this situation for him that didn't involve magic and death. "You'll be outnumbered. And you can't hold here forever."

"Ah, but you see, Mister Potter, we don't need to. Step forward, please. Or I will shoot this bitch," the terrorist snarled, suddenly becoming more aggressive as he trained the gun on the terrified blonde-haired woman, who covered her head as if that would shield her from the bullets that would be sprayed in her direction.

Harry obeyed, having a strange feeling that something bad was going to happen next, and his suspicions were confirmed moments later when they vanished from the open area of the airport landing zone, along with the ten other guards, just as a horde of security officers and police forces began to drive towards them, having found a way onto the airfield at last.

**II**

When Harry awoke, he glanced at the cell that he found himself in, and realised that he had suffered from unexpected side-along apparition. Instantly whipping out his wand, the Boy Who Lived's twin brother found the same brown-haired terrorist holding the other end of it. "I wouldn't try using your magic in here, Mister Potter. It won't work. Please, sit. My Master is coming. You will not be able to escape."

"You know, you still haven't told me who your master is," Harry replied, glancing around for an escape route. There were no windows - that much was for certain. "And you haven't told me who you are."

"You do not need to know my name," the man replied. "But I am part of a stronger group than your Lord Voldermort will ever be a part of. We are the Court."

"The Court... of what?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My Court," a cool, calculating voice echoed throughout the cell as a cloaked man appeared out of nowhere. "You may call me Moriarty. And you, Harry... will play a key role in our plans. It is not the first time we have captured a person with the magical talent, you see – but our scientists cannot wait to get their hands on you for research purposes."

The man's accent was British, but Harry couldn't detect who he was just from that. _'Scientists... I'm going to be experimented on!' _"Isn't that illegal?" he asked, pathetically – but obviously, Moriarty didn't care much for illegal. He'd just sent a bunch of armed forces in broad Manhattan daylight to get to him, and then _broken _the statue of secrecy in order to get him to the prison. They obviously didn't care much for illegal.

"My dear child," Moriarty laughed, and Harry recognised the name from Arthur Conan-Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, and his nemesis - the Napoleon of Crime. '_But How? Must be some sort of copycat. It can't be the real Moriarty because Moriarty was never real in the first place!' _"Look around you. You are in the most secure prison that the world has ever known. And it is my prison. There is no such thing as secrecy whilst I am here, I _own _secrecy. I can break into Gringotts like _that_."

He snapped his fingers, and Harry saw white skin emerge from beneath the coat, and unleash a wand, pointing it at the brother to the Boy Who Lived. "Now... Harry Potter. _Sleep_."

And Harry Potter slept, falling to the floor in a crumpled heap.

Several thousand miles across the world, in England, at the head table of Malfoy Manor, Lord Voldemort smiled as he pulled from the mind of Harry Potter. The real Chosen One had been disposed, becoming captive of the Court of Nightmares, of which nobody had ever escaped from before, and was as good as dead. Now was the time of the Dark Lord and his army of Death Eaters, who would lead the assault against the forces of the light and their false prophet. And England would burn, with _nobody _in their path to stop them.


	2. Face the Court

**Earth's Mightiest Heroes**

Wow, my Inbox has been a never ending stream of favourites and follows (and a few reviews) throughout the day after it was published, pretty much nonstop. So I've decided to reward you guys with Chapter 2, which picks up directly after the events of 1. So without further ado, hope you enjoy the Chapter, and I'd appreciate it if you could review. (Negative reviews are welcome, as long as the negative reviews are not just "this was shit", but an explanation as to _why _you thought "this was shit".

And also, Moriarty in this fic is _not the Moriarty. _Sherlock Holmes and co. will not be appearing in _Earth's Mightiest Heroes_. This is mainly a Harry Potter/Avengers (Assemble for the UK folks) crossover, with added stuff from the Marvel Universe.

Thanks for all of the reviews/favourites/follows, guys! Keep them coming!

**THE COURT OF NIGHTMARES  
**

**Chapter Two: Face the Court**__

**I**

When Harry Potter awoke from his unconsciousness, he found himself chained, handcuffed to a wall. Somebody had changed his clothes, he noticed, for he was now wearing different ones. The person opposite him was an older man, around the age of forty, with brown hair that was starting to spurt grey outputs here and there. He was wearing a suit similar to the ones that the terrorists wore, and Harry wondered if it was some sort of uniform for the mysterious Court of Moriarty. "Good morning, Harry Potter. Welcome to America."

Harry tried to move his hands, but the handcuffs were too strong. Wincing, he looked across at the brown haired man and said, "Well, it's not the best welcome that I've had in my life. Actually, as welcoming goes, it's pretty poor."

"I am sorry that our reception wasn't quite as you expected it to be," the man said, and Harry snorted in response, as no matter how serious he sounded it – there was no way that it could be serious. "But our master has a plan already laid out, and we must follow our orders to the letter."

"If your master told you to go and jump off a cliff, would you do it?" Harry questioned, trying to aggravate the man. "And where is your Master anyway? I'd like my wand back."

"Your wand will not do you much use in this prison, Mister Potter. Magic caused by a wand simply will not work," the man replied. "My name is Logan by the way. I think I should give you that much, before I am forced to begin my testing."

"Forced? You mean that you don't like it?" _'Testing for what_?' Harry had no clue, but guessed it wouldn't be another NEWT exam. Logan was obviously some sort of scientist, but Harry couldn't see any experiments anywhere. Logan had also implied that magic _caused by a wand _would not work, which opened the possibility of wandless magic. But Harry didn't know how to use wandless magic, and wasn't in the situation to start learning now, especially when his hands were tied, quite literally.

"I am not at liberty to say," admitted Logan after a pause, which Harry believed was as good as admitting that he didn't like doing it.

"So could you at least give me a warning? What's going to happen to me next?" Harry asked, hoping that it wouldn't hurt.

"Has my Master told you the full name of the Court yet, Harry Potter?" Logan enquired, but seeing Harry's confused look, realised that it was the negative, and decided to continue. "Well, our Court goes by many names, like my Master. But the most famous title that it is known by is the Court of Nightmares. And the name was not our choosing, but it was merely attributed to us by our enemies. And with good reason, Harry Potter. As you are about to find out."

Harry had a growing realisation about what was going to happen to him as soon as Logan had said the word _Nightmares, _and tried to put up his mind defences, but was too slow – and Logan struck, the Court of Nightmares entering Harry's head with all the strength that he could muster.

Almost immediately, the screaming began. It didn't take Harry long to realise that the screaming was his own. This was the first time that Harry was tortured through this method, but it would not be the last.

**II**

Three Months Later...

The screaming stopped, and Harry gasped a breath of fresh air as Logan withdrew from his mind, and climbed up to take a step back from him. "So. Harry Potter. I am going to ask you a question now, and I want you to respond as clearly as you can. _Do you understand what I am saying_?"

"Yes," spat back Harry, and a look of surprise greeted Logan's face. Three Months of torture, his mind being pressed to the brink, and finally – he was ready. Ready to escape the prison. He was pinning his hopes though, on an idea that _might _work. Logan had hinted that only magic cast from a wand would not work, which gave him free access to wandless magic. And during the time that he had been allowed to sleep, the brother of the Boy Who Lived had been practising wandless magic. He'd been utilising everything he knew, putting everything into trying to get out of the cell.

And now he thought, he would be ready. Ready to put his plan into action,and escape the Nightmare Court. The Court of Nightmares. The bastards that had transformed him. He would never be the same again after his experience, having been restricted to limited food and water, but now though... he would be free. He'd thought he'd had it rough suffering the limitation of food at his parents' house, when he was overshadowed for his twin brother, but _this _was much worse than that. There was a very good reason why the Nightmare League called themselves the _Nightmare League. _He'd learnt that Logan was a master mind-reader, and knew everything about Harry in about an hour of pain charged into his mind on the first day alone. The pain had taken various forms, and it was a wonder that he was still sane. He'd been suffering from all the bad parts of his life, the days spent without food, the Birthday Parties where Harry was forgotten for his brother, and every worse moment of Harry's miserable, friendless, Hogwarts life, memories that he'd considered many times _Obliviating _himself with. Logan looked at him, a sad smile on his face and then said, "It is time. You have proven yourself well. My Master wants to see you now. His plan is ready."

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me what it is," Harry retorted. He'd still kept his wit, that much was evident. Wit that he had picked up with all the years of enduring snide, spiteful comments sent his way. He'd been called _liar, traitor, evil, bastard, unworthy _many times in his life before. He knew how to deal with bullies.

Logan's response was passive as he lead Harry Potter from his cell, and Harry got a look at his outside location for the first time since his arrival, through a window that he passed on his way. Only it wasn't just a window. _It was a portal. _They were underwater. Harry James Potter had been living for three months under the surface.

"You understand now why there can be no escape. Our unique location allows it to be undetected from our enemies," explained Logan. "Of which we have a great many. SHIELD in particular. Have you heard of them?"

"I know of a shield, but I don't think that's the shield that you mean," replied Harry.

"I didn't think so," Logan said, scanning a card on a door as it slid open. They continued walking down another corridor, passing several armed guards. Harry noticed a red-haired girl about his age walk past him, looking in the opposite direction and avoiding eye contact. Then a thought occurred to him.

"How many people are on this base?"

"At any given time, at least a thousand," explained Logan, as they reached the door. Harry gulped. '_How large is this base?_' "But I cannot tell you anymore of that until you have sworn your allegiance to the Court."

"If you think I'm joining you then you're mistaken. You're as bad as Voldemort," said Harry, and then added, "Besides, why did you torture me for these three months if you were going to recruit me? I don't think you guys have the best recruitment strategy."

"It was a test," explained Logan. "To see if you were worthy."

"I've never been called worthy in my life. Guess there's a first time for everything," snorted Harry. "I still don't want to join the people that have spent the last three months torturing me and holding me captive with no free will."

"What if I told you that you won't be getting any choice in the matter?" Logan asked, and before Harry could respond, he was shoved through a door and into a room which resembled some sort of stage. The red-haired girl was watching him from the raised balcony, standing next to the cloaked figure that was presumably Moriarty. Next to Harry, there was a large machine that he could not even begin to describe, having never been a big fan of science fiction. Because that was what it looked like, something out of the future. It was big enough to hold a man, cylinder-shaped, connected to a massive high-tech spread of buttons, screens and levers on the opposite wall where two white-cloaked scientists were standing. Harry tried to get clear, but was still handcuffed and could do nothing as he was pushed towards the container.

"What's going to happen to me?" he asked, trying to stall for time.

"You're going to become one of the Court," explained Moriarty from above, his voice echoing coldly down for Harry to hear. "One of my _Court. _You have passed the initiation stage and once your mind is fully wiped then you will become one of us. We have spent months subjecting you to mental torture to see if you would remain sane at the end of it. And you have passed. Within this year, only one other has passed as well as you have. You and Natasha Romanov will be strong additions to the Court."

The way Moriarty's cloak, which covered his body completely, turned to observe the red-haired girl, Harry had a feeling that she was Natasha Romanov, and realised that she was probably as unwilling (or at first) as he was, and was probably what he was going to turn into. A mindless slave, a follower of Moriarty. This must be some sort of mind-control machine, Harry realised. He'd read about similar stuff used before in fiction. He would become a member of the Court of Nightmares and would not remember anything before that.

In a way, maybe that was a good thing. After all, hadn't he wanted to lose his recollections of the friendless years that he had spent alone at Hogwarts? _'No. I am not going to lose it so Moriarty can have control over me. I'd rather have them than work for Moriarty_. _I don't know what he's doing or what he intends to do, but...'_

"Oh, Moriarty, if that is your real name," Harry said aloud, adopting his very confident face, causing Logan to look startled. "You think you've won, you think you've got control over me, but there's one thing that you haven't taken into account, _one very important thing._"

"And what would that be?" replied the confident, cold voice of Moriarty. "Enlighten me, Harry Potter. Tell me what I've overlooked."

"Actually, it's more of a showing thing than a telling thing," Harry replied. _'Come on, wandless magic. Now would be a good time for you to work.'_

And work it did. Harry Potter vanished, still handcuffed, with a crack, disappearing from the stage leaving a shocked Logan in his wake. However, Harry was equally surprised when he found himself in his new location, and judging by the skyline it was his intended destination all along. '_Huh,' _he thought, marvelling his new home, that he had purchased with money left over from various jobs that he had been working on over the summers away from Hogwarts. '_Well, would you look at that. Now, how do I get rid of these damn handcuffs_?'

**A/N: **_The Court of Nightmares was largely inspired from_ _Scott Snyder's New 52 Batman comics from DC. But obviously they're changed a lot from the Court of Owls, for those of you that know. Also, Uncanny Avengers #1 is out today as Marvel start re-launching their comics for Marvel Now_! _Which I may find myself picking up along with Scott Snyder's #13 of Batman. _

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please remember to review. The Court of Nightmares and Natasha will be back, and expect Natasha to undergo a lot of changes between now and the movie. Natasha might even return next Chapter.


	3. Timeline V1

_**MARVEL HARRY POTTER UNIVERSE TIMELINE: Pre-The Court of Nightmares**_

Sorry, no new Chapter, but a Timeline to help you get a rough perspective of the events. This is also a clue as to which characters from the other Marvel Universe that may or may not appear in the future.

After each major story arc, the timeline will be updated. Depending on future Marvel movies, this timeline will be updated and changed in accordance.

There are spoilers, some minor, some huge for every Avengers movie, X-Men First Class and X-Men Origins: Wolverine in this timeline so just beware. I have only done the timeline up to the events of the first two Chapters, and as this current story set in 1998, we still have a while to go until 2012 when the events of the main _Avengers _film takes place. It'll be a while before I get to that as I plan for Harry to have at least one, maybe two story arcs before the Avengers as well as covering any canon films that will be changed.

My Maths (UK here, Math for the US folks) isn't too great and I'm using on Wiki and the calendar on my computer for the dates, so if there's any glaring errors, let me know.

1832. James Howlett, a child who will eventually go by the name Logan and Wolverine, is born in Canada.

1918. Steve Rogers is born in Brooklyn, New York.

1944. In Poland in a Nazi concentration camp, Erik Lensherr develops his mutant powers for the first time after being separated from his mother as a child.

1945. Events of _Captain America_. Steve Rogers, aka Captain America stops the Red Skull from launching bombs on America gets frozen in ice.

1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis. World War Three is averted by Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, and Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted and Talented is created. Erik Lensherr becomes Magneto whilst Xavier becomes wheelchair bound. Mutants Raven, Riptide, Angel, Emma Frost and Azazel side with Magneto whilst Xavier gains the alliance. Hank McCoy (Beast), Alex Summers (Havok) and Sean Cassidy (Banshee)

1960's. the events of _X-Men Origins: Wolverine _ends with Wolverine losing his memory of his past life after teaming up with fellow mutant Gambit in order to attempt to stop Colonel William Stryker's Weapon X program. Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, escapes and joins Xavier's School for the Gifted and Talented along with a bunch of other mutants.

1969. Bruce Banner is born. Between 1969 and 2006 he will eventually go to Harvard University, where he will meet Betty Ross. Her father will enlist Bruce in a military research group in order to make soldiers resistant to radiation (although her father had an ulterior motive). When testing the experiment on himself, Bruce turned into the Hulk.

1970: Tony Stark is born to Howard and Maria Stark in New York.

1980. Harry Potter, Michael Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Natasha Romanoff are born. Harry, Michael and Ron to wizarding parents, whilst Hermione and Natasha to muggles. Natasha is born in Russia. Michael, Hermione Granger and Ron will go onto become best friends and will be eventually labelled as The Golden Trio.

1981. Albus Dumbledore hears the prophecy proclaiming that _"One shall live whilst the other survives." _Clint Barton is born, along with Ginny Weasley, the first Weasley female.

1982. The second wizarding war ends with the supposed death of Lord Voldemort at the hands of Michael Potter, who is labelled as _"The Boy Who Lived." _In reality, Harry Potter is The Chosen One and develops an ability to talk to snakes as well as a connection with Voldemort. Moriarty gains command of the mysterious Court of Nightmares, and rumours of their powers first start surfacing in the darker corners of the world.

1982-1991. Harry and Michael grow up. Harry is overshadowed and friendless as a result of the Potters growing ever more attached to fame that Michael brings them. He is ignored by Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. He thinks about running away more than once, and uses the muggle library at Godric's Hollow for the first time whilst on the run from Michael and his new best friend, Ron Weasley. During this period, Natasha, Tony and Clint begin to grow up in their different lifestyles, Natasha in Russia, Tony and Clint in America. All live separate and very different lifestyles.

1991. Tony Stark's parents, Howard and Maria stark die in a car accident. Tony Stark takes control of Stark Industries. Meanwhile in the UK, Aged 11 years, Harry, Michael and Ron get their Hogwarts letters. Harry is sorted into Ravenclaw whilst Michael and Ron are sorted into Gryffindor, gaining the friendship of fellow house student muggleborn Hermione Granger. Together, the trio solve the mystery of the Philosopher's Stone but fall short at the last hurdle when Michael is knocked unconscious by Quirrell. Harry, having learnt about the Stone manages to rescue Michael in time and manages to hold off Quirrell long enough until Dumbledore arrives, blacking out as the old wizard descends to stop the madness. Dumbledore believes Michael held Quirrell off, not Harry – and Michael was merely stopped first. Gryffindor win the House Cup and Harry is branded a liar and an attention seeker when he tries to tell his story. Harry begins hearing of companies such as Stark Industries in America and realises how much better life would be if he moved over there away from his parents, and starts saving money, doing odd jobs around Godric's Hollow for the muggles.

1992. Harry and Michael's second year at Hogwarts during which Ron's sister, Ginny – unwittingly opens the Chamber of Secrets. Hermione is petrified. Harry figures out the Chamber of Secrets location at the same time that Michael and Ron do, but has to reveal his Parslemouth Identity in order to open the Chamber. The current DADA teacher, Professor Lockheart, gets his memory obliviated after trying to keep the fact that he is a fraud from Harry, Michael and Ron. A cave-in in the Chamber of Secrets traps Ron and Lockheart, forcing Michael and Harry to go on alone. Harry fends off the Basilisk that had been petrifying the students, using the Sword of Gryffindor, which has appeared when Michael defended Albus Dumbledore and Hogwarts from Tom Riddle, the mastermind behind the Basilisk invasion. Michael stabs the diary containing the lifeblood of Tom Riddle and Fawkes appears to heal a dying Harry, before carrying him, Michael, Ginny, Ron and Lockheart out of the Chamber. Ron and Michael fabricate a story which exposes Harry as a Parslemouth and manages to make it look like Ron took Harry's place fighting Tom Riddle whilst Harry attacked Lockheart. Harry's 'attack' is forgiven as he helped save the School but is not praised whilst Ron and Michael are. Gryffindor win the House Cup again and Harry gains a reputation as being a liar and attention seeker.

1993-7. Harry, Michael and Ron's third, fourth, fifth and six years at Hogwarts pass without incident until the Triwizard Tournament is held in their seventh year, 1997. Michael's name is announced along with champions from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Michael wins the first task and the second. The third task turns out to end up with a Portkey leading Michael to the Graveyard at Little Hangleton where Peter Pettigrew uses his blood to resurrect Lord Voldemort. Voldemort claims that Michael is not the Chosen One and is annoyed at his servant for failing him before sending Michael back to Hogwarts. Michael discovers an imposter, Barty Crouch Jr, put his name into the Goblet of Fire believing him to be the Boy Who Lived when it was in fact his Brother. Michael doesn't tell anyone that Harry was the Boy Who Lived and announces to the world that Voldemort is back, forming an alliance with the Ministry of Magic and joining the Order of the Phoenix in secret upon leaving Hogwarts.

During this period, Clint trains at school, becoming a particularly good at sport, archery in particular. Tony Stark increases the world renowned Stark Industries and Natasha grows up in Russia, trained by her parents as the fearsome Assassin codenamed the Black Widow. After her fifteenth kill, she begins to realise what she has done and joins the Court of Nightmares in an attempt to rid herself of the memories that her parents gave her, not knowing of what the Court really does. Peter Parker, the boy who will one day become Spiderman, is born in Manhattan to Richard and Mary Parker.

_**The Court of Nightmares Starts**_

1998. Harry Potter leaves England bound for America, and upon arrival, gets kidnapped by the Court of Owls aged 17. He spends three months in imprisonment and escapes after understanding wandless magic. His Holly and Phoenix feather wand is taken by Moriarty, and he sees Natasha Romanov for the first time. The Third Wizarding War begins whilst Harry is in captivity.

The Events of Chapter 3_: The Black Widow _will begin.

**A/N: **So, what did you think? This is the current version of the timeline _Earth's Mightiest Heroes, _and as you can see there is a large focus on the X-Men and Spiderman for now as I've seen all of the X-Men films. If a Spiderman does feature, he will appear once I've seen _Amazing Spiderman _(although I know what happens, and have a rough storyline in my head for introducing him), as I will use Andrew Garfield's portrayal. I may eventually include characters such as Dr. Strange and current comics-only ones, but that may wait as the only _Marvel _comics that I've read are _Civil War _and a couple of issues of _Amazing Spiderman. _


	4. The Black Widow

**Earth's Mightiest Heroes**

I don't own Marvel or Harry Potter, but you know that by now.

**THE COURT OF NIGHTMARES**

_Chapter Three: The Black Widow_

1999, eleven years before the events of _Iron Man_

"Welcome to Stark Industries," the recruitment officer said, smiling at a clean-shaven, suit-wearing Harry, who was currently going under the alias of Michael Potter. Whilst he loathed using his twin brother's name, Harry was still viewed as a missing person and the events at the airport in New York were still viewed with suspicion. Somebody had even published a book in the time whilst he was imprisoned, someone with _super-fast _writing skills, and had labelled it as the definitive version of the events that had happened.

Most of it was absolute rubbish, speculating that Harry had been kidnapped by aliens. Aliens!There was no such thing, Harry reasoned – for they would have probably made themselves known if they existed by now, he thought. If they wanted to make themselves known. He'd had his first cinema experience recently with _The Phantom Menace, _A Star Wars film that was apparently the _fourth _Star Wars film currently in existence, but had served as a prequel to the three that came before it. He found it okay, although Jar Jar Binks was annoying, one of the reasons being that he was entirely computer generated, and he wanted to see more of Samuel L. Jackson, who played Mace Windu. He still hadn't got round to watching the prequels yet, but apparently had been assured by an overweight guy in the cinema that they were so much better than what he had turned up to watch. He'd currently landed himself a job at Stark Industries after creating a realistic looking CV and making sure that he was well informed about his new job description.

He'd even found a magical community in Manhattan, one that had been hiding in plain sight, much like the Wizarding World that he knew. This was more democratic and less uptight than the Wizarding force in the UK, and he'd even managed to get himself false, but more than efficient, passports, VISAs and anything that would make him look like a genuine guy heading to America to get a new life away from England. Living in an house next to some _really _nice neighbours, the Parker family, who recently had given birth to a child named Peter, he'd often end up having dinners with them, especially as he was – by all accounts, a teenager, and he needed somebody to talk to who wasn't his work partners. His ID stated that he was nineteen, but he looked like he could pass for eighteen after building up his physical strength following his captivity. It wasn't long before "Michael Potter" became well known in this particular part of Manhattan, which was whilst crucial in cementing himself a position in the neighbourhood, ultimately lead to his eventual discovery, which started when he came home one morning, and found the door unlocked.

'_That's not good,_' he thought, keeping himself aware and ready to confront anybody that had broken in. _'I left the door locked when I left the house.'_

As soon as he entered the house, Harry felt the receiving end of a well aimed, well executed kick to the ribs, and he realised that he must have broken at least one of them by the pain that he was in. Reeling backwards across the floor, he barely had time to defend himself before the attacker was on him again, and with a variety of moves, the female opponent – she was decisively female, brought him clattering to the floor once more, sending him backwards over the sofa and onto the rug that separated it from the television. Spitting out blood, Harry raised his hands in defeat. "Okay, you got me. You're Natasha, right?"

The red-haired girl responded with the affirmative, so Harry continued. "Moriarty wants you to bring me back then? I get the feeling you would have killed me otherwise."

"You wouldn't have been given the chance to leave your interview if my Master had ordered you dead," Natasha replied, sharply. He could detect a hint of Russian in her accent, and allowed her to continue as he was in no position to do otherwise. He hoped that his neighbours weren't hurt though, and certainly hoped they didn't discover the confrontation between himself and the young assassin. "But he wants you alive. This means I have to wait until you get back home. But I can afford to waste a couple of minutes of my time."

"Have you ever thought of an alternative career choice?" Harry asked at the girl. "I mean, besides working for Moriarty?"

Natasha looked confused by the question, and Harry seized the advantage to hurl the Television remote that he had landed by at her head. Catching it before it got there, she threw it back. Harry barely had time to dive out of the way, and raised his wand to cast Stupefyat her in return. Something that he had time to practice over the few weeks since escaping captivity was mind-reading, and spell casting, He intended to do both here, and see what exactly drove the fearsome assassin that had been labelled in certain circles as the mysterious _Black Widow. _The confusion in her response to Harry's question gave him hope that Natasha hadn't been working for Moriarty willingly, and had probably gone through the same process that he had.

Recognising the spell, Natasha dived out of the way before it could hit her, and the sparks of magical collided with a chest of draws behind him, which burst into flames. As Harry was busy dodging the strikes landed on him by Natasha, he was unable to put out the fire, and the fire quickly started to spread to the rest of the home. Neither Natasha nor Harry seemed to give any quarter in their fight, and when Harry found himself forced up to the second level of his two-storey house, he was able to look down at the fire below and observe it properly for the first time since the blaze started. _'And I really liked this house,_' he thought, knowing that he could put it out with a flick of a wand but deciding not to because Natasha, the Black Widow, could have used this to an advantage like he had with his question. So, casting another spell at her, the brother to the Boy Who Lived caused smoke to erupt from his wand, giving him cover from the assassin as he sprinted upstairs and into his bedroom, and hid behind the wall by the open doorframe with seconds to spare before Natasha caught up with him.

And that was when he struck. Sensing that the Black Widow was getting closer, Harry lashed out with his arm at shoulder-length level and in a stroke of good luck, managed to hit the red-headed seventeen year old in the forehead. The blow was delivered with such accuracy that Natasha was knocked unconscious by the force of it, and crumpled to the floor in a heap. Realising that the quickness that fire had spread made escaping downstairs unachievable, he hauled the unconscious Natasha up out of the fire, briefly thought of the irony of rescuing his-would-be kidnapper from the blazing inferno, and then both vanished from the house. Harry knew now that he would never be able to return to New York without having to explain the cause of the fire, and realised that he would never get the chance to see Peter grow up or work at Stark Industries. New York was out of the question for him now, and he doubted that he'd get a third chance in the Big Apple without his identity being discovered.

So Harry did not apparate to another place in New York. He didn't apparate to anywhere in America, either. He apparated to one of the few places he could know for sure that didn't have anti-apparition wards and currently had no current residents. _The Chamber of Secrets, Hogwarts_.

The secret lair of Salazar Slytherin and the former home of a Basilisk, which now lay blinded and dead beneath an effigy devoted to the "Greatest of the Hogwarts Four," as Tom Riddle had labelled him. It was a place that Harry never wanted to return to, but knew deep downthat it was oddly, the safest place for him and Natasha for the time being – as nobody would look for them here. It seemed odd that the one of the most secret places in Hogwarts did not have already established anti-apparition wards, but the brother of the Boy Who Lived reasoned that Slytherin probably thought his base was so secret that nobody but his heir would discover it, so there was no need for the anti-apparition wards to extent to this particular area when they covered the whole of Hogwarts School.

It was in that moment; Harry decided that the Chamber of Secrets would be his new base of operations. Assuming of course, that a _hopefully _brainwashed Natasha could be persuaded to leave Moriarty. Harry had no way of knowing what she had been like before the Court of Nightmares though, but decided to adopt the Gryffindor approach with this, even if he was no Gryffindor himself – Act first, deal with the consequences later.

**A/N: **Alright, so there's Chapter 3. Let me know what you think, and did you spot the cameo from a certain Parker family? The tentative title for Chapter 4 is _The Chamber of Secrets, _but this can change.

Also, referring to the above _eleven years before the events of Iron Man,_ here's a timeline for some of Marvel's _Avengers_ Movies, which I've included here because they weren't part of the story yet on the timeline_:_

2008. _Iron__ Man._

2009. _The Incredible Hulk. _

2010. _Iron Man 2_.

2011. _Thor._

2012. _Avengers Assemble / The Avengers. __  
_


	5. The Chamber of Secrets

**THE COURT OF NIGHTMARES**

Chapter Four: The Chamber of Secrets

**I**

When Natasha awoke, the first thing that she asked was, "Where am I? What's going on? What happened?"

During the time that she had been unconscious, Harry had risked several journeys into Hogwarts above. Having made friends with Moaning Myrtle, he escaped detection from the staff in order to visit the Room of Requirement and the kitchens to gain food and drink from the ever so eager house elves, who didn't seem to mind that he was no longer a student of Hogwarts School, and then gained access to anything that could make the Chamber vaguely comfortable for human residence, even doing the task of moving the Basilisk to one of the many side-rooms with magic. What was odd about this, was that, Natasha had spoken those words in Russian, not in an accented English that she had used when confronting Harry in his flat. '_Memory-wipe_?' Harry thought, quickly casting a translator spell so as to understand what she was saying and form a response that she would know. "Do you remember the Court of Nightmares, Natasha?"

"Who are you?" she asked, and reached to her side as if to pull out a gun, and realised there wasn't one there. "How do you know my name?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm Harry," he replied. "How about a question for a question. Do you remember the Court of Nightmares?"

"Yes," she said, and despite the fact that she did the best to hide it, fear filled her. "I do. The Court... they said that they could take away my memory. I would forget what I'd done. They brainwashed me. I can see what I did, during their service. Moriarty... oh... I remember _everything_!"

"I'm sorry," Harry replied, and then said, "You're safe now though. Moriarty doesn't know where we are. Your question?"

"I'm sorry for screwing up your house. The neighbours, they looked like nice people. And you had a job as well, right?" Natasha asked, and then retracted. "Hold on, that's not my question. How are you understanding what I'm saying? I'm speaking in Russian."

"Magic," Harry replied, with a wink. "Technically I burnt down my house. I cast a spell at you and missed. I can translate what you're saying though into English, and I can speak back and you'll understand me. Handy trick."

"Right," Natasha replied, and Harry could tell that she had understood magic by the lack of surprise.

"My question. What do you want to do now? I mean, you can't exactly go back to Moriarty without me," Harry said, guessing that Moriarty was as ruthless as he looked. "And before you ask, I'm not going back unless I've got an army with me. Probably two."

"Well I can't go back to my parents," Natasha confessed, "Seeing as they trained me. I don't want to be a killer anymore I can do spying though, killing..."

"Right. So killing's out of the window," Harry said with a nod. "You could always stay with me. I was going to go back to America, but after the disappearances of two identities there, Harry Potter, my real one, to the Court, and Michael Potter to the fire, I guess they'd spot a third no matter how good I was. So, Natasha. You fancy staying in England? There's a war on, but apart from that we should be fine. Hopefully Moriarty'll think that we both burned in that fire."

"He won't," confessed Natasha, glancing across at the Chamber of Secrets. "My question, where the hell are we?"

"In a secret Chamber made by an evil old wizard, beneath a magic school," explained Harry. "They don't know that we're down here, so I decided to establish it as our base of operations."

"Which magic school?"

"Hogwarts," Harry explained. "The one that I went to. _Unfortunately._"

"You say that like it's a bad thing. I always dreamed of going to Hogwarts as a child," Natasha confessed.

"You're a witch?" Harry raised an eyebrow from across the bed that she had now climbed out of.

"No. Squib," she explained. "If I had been, well... I would have been sent to Durmstrang."

"Ouch," Harry replied. "I heard Viktor Krum went there."

"Viktor Krum?"

"Famous Quidditch player," Harry informed her. "Never mind. Hogwarts is a bad thing if the whole school treats you like a liar and a cheat just because your _twin brother, _Michael – was decided by a senile old man with delusions of grandeur that he is the one prophesied to defeat Voldemort..."

He trailed off, realising that Natasha had a blank look on her face, not understanding what he'd just said. "You lost me," she admitted, raising an eyebrow. "So who's Voldemort?"

"The Dark Lord," a voice from behind them spoke, and Harry and Natasha both leapt to attention as several Death Eaters, about five of them, appeared out of nowhere, entering the Chamber of Secrets, all cloaked, all brandishing wands. "Is very displeased with you, Potter. He thought that you would not escape the clutches of the Court. Now we have been ordered to return you to its master. He is most displeased with the traitorous squib, though. She will have to be dealt with_._"

"Lucius Malfoy, I presume," Harry addressed the leader directly. The five were flanked in an arrowhead formation, and sooner or later, they would begin casting spells at Harry and Natasha. Harry had passed a pair of pistols to Natasha, and hoped that the guns would work like apparition here. Five more Death Eaters adopting the same formation appeared moments later behind them, forcing Natasha and Harry to adopt a back-to-back formation. In the same second, Harry recalled that Voldemort had placed a taboo on the name shortly before his departure, and once it would be uttered, the Death Eaters would be alerted to its location. "It's an honour to have your acquaintance. How's Draco?"

"_Crucio!_" Lucius yelled, firing a spell at Harry, who managed to move out of the way with Natasha. They rolled down to the ground, behind the bed that she had been on moments ago.

"_Avada Kedavra!" _shouted one Death Eater. _'Rosier, I think_,' Harry thought, recognising the voice.

"The Dark Lord wants them alive, you fool!" the elder Malfoy shouted. "They are to be handed over to the Court!"

Rosier obeyed obviously – because the next curse sent their way was a _Stupefy, _which blasted apart the bed that they had been sheltering behind. The ten Death Eaters were now surrounding Harry and Natasha, and despite the fact that Natasha had managed to fire her pistols, the protection against muggle items had apparently extended to the Chamber as well.

"On the count of three," Harry whispered, directing his attention at Natasha as they wondered what the Death Eaters were waiting for. "I will apparate us out of here. And when we arrive, don't say his name. That's how they found us. _Three._"

"Ok. Don't I have to grab your hand?"

"Yes," Harry nodded.

She clasped it, as Harry said, "_Two._"

Lucius Malfoy raised his wand, pointing it directly at Harry. All around them, the circle of Death Eaters prepared to fire curses that would knock the pair of them unconscious, and by the time that they awoke, they would find themselves back in the possession of the Court of Nightmares. _"One._"

The next time Harry spoke, he uttered, "_Zero_"_, _at the same time that all hell erupted around them. Before the sparks could hit them, Harry and Natasha had vanished from the Chamber of Secrets, both squib and wizard, female and male, vanished from their destination for the second time in a matter of hours, leaving their equipment at the mercy of the Death Eaters. With a loud crack, Harry and Natasha both found themselves in their latest location, only to discover themselves held at wandpoint yet again by several, non-cloaked figures.

'_Damn,_' Harry thought. _'I didn't think they'd use this place as a HQ. Talk about Irony.' _His next words were said aloud, directed at the red-haired woman that had her wand raised at him directly, his face meeting hers. Around him, he began to take in the faces of the Order of the Phoenix_, _or as Harry liked to call them, the Order of the Flaming Chicken. His parents, his whole family was gathered in the room, along with most of the Weasley family, Moody, Dumbledore, as well as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, and many others. It looked as though he'd just stumbled into the middle of an Order meeting at Grimmauld Place,so decided to adopt the sarcastic, cocky approach that reminded him of Tony Stark, from the biopics that he used to watch. "Hello, mother, father. Well, I guess this is awkward. I wasn't expecting this to be your HQ. And while we're here, may I introduce you to Natasha Romanoff?"

A/N: To the guest who stated that Harry should not have been able to apparate cross-continents if he had been unable to detect Natasha at his house, I believe at no point in the books does it state that you have to be a powerful wizard to apparate to foreign continents. You just have to know how to apparate. At the start of this story as you probably know, Harry is smart, but not super-smart and can make mistakes, as you've seen. His character and strengths will change over the course of the story, and he will become more powerful.

**Tentative Title for Next Chapter: **_The Order of the Phoenix _– Having unwittingly apparated to the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, Harry must now come face to face with the family that he left behind and introduce Natasha to the Order. But things are moving faster than he thought, and the alliance of the Court of Nightmares and the Death Eaters may soon catch up with him.


	6. The Order of the Phoenix

**COURT OF NIGHTMARES**

Okay, I've got a few issues that I'd like to highlight before starting this chapter. One reviewer, a guest, asked why Harry simply doesn't kill the Death Eaters in _The Chamber of Secrets. _Well, for starters, before they arrived, Harry and Natasha agreed that there'd be no killing. Added to the fact that Harry is still pretty much your average wizard with a little extra intelligence. He's not a badass killing machine like Natasha is. If he has the stomach (which he probably has), to use _Avada Kedavra, _he's probably not – because even though he'll get down one or two Death Eaters, there's about eight others to take their place that would have fired spells off as soon as he'd let them fall.

This is Harry's 'origin' story if you will; in the same way that _Iron Man_ was Tony Stark's. He may or may not gain a superpower by the end of the arc, and you'll have to wait and see because I'm not revealing any spoilers. Also, a few bits like how/why Harry apparated into the Order of the Phoenix's HQ will be explained with more depth this Chapter.

**Chapter Five: The Order of the Phoenix**

"Harry, my boy," Dumbledore addressed him directly in the silence that had formed after Harry had introduced Natasha to the crowd. Harry hated it when Dumbledore labelled him that – he'd lost the right to call him anything close _to _my boy long ago. "It appears you have a lot of explaining to do. This location is protected by a Fidelius charm, known only to the members of the Order. How did you and Miss Romanoff make it through the barriers?"

"I was in the same room as you when you discussed it," deadpanned Harry. "And as to how Natasha got in, side-along apparition. Fairly obvious when you think about it."

"But you're not a member of the Order," this was from Sirius Black. "You don't deserve to be."

"That's rich, coming from you, Black," retorted Harry. Natasha remained oddly silent throughout the exchange, but Harry figured that she was plotting an escape route.

"How many of them want to kill us?" she whispered in her ear. "I can knock out about five from this close range assuming they don't. I trust you can keep them occupied?"

"I'd rather avoid a fight if possible," Harry whispered back, before returning his argument with Sirius Black, "And besides, I thought you'd moved from this place by now, with your fortune, you didn't seem to like it when I was around. That's why I came here. Should've been abandoned apart from a portrait of an old hag. Oh, and brother of mine, congratulations on joining the Order of the Flaming Chicken. It's funny that you should lecture me about being an undeserving member of the Order when brother and the Weasel can barely tie their own shoelaces, let alone fight Death Eaters."

"Why would we want to tie our own shoelaces when we can do it with magic?" Ron Weasley asked, glancing at Harry from where he was now standing. The Order of the Phoenix had now backed away slightly from him and Natasha, having recognised that if they'd have come with the intent to kill, they wouldn't be answering questions.

"Exactly my point," Harry said, glancing at James and Lily. "Oh, mother and father of mine, how did you react to my departure? I was always wondering. Did you throw a party?"

"You left?" Hermione Granger asked, always the inquisitive one. If anyone Harry could have been friends with at Hogwarts it would have either been her or Luna Lovegood, the odd Ravenclaw who was currently, he guessed – in her final year at Hogwarts, if not already finished. "Michael never told me."

"Michael probably didn't notice I was gone," Harry said with a smirk. "Now, if you haven't got anything better to do, I hear that Kreacher makes rather nice homemade Pizza. Odd recipe for a pro-pureblood house elf, isn't it? _Pizza_? But I'm in the mood for some Pizza right now, how about you, Natasha?"

"You are aware that we are surrounded by potentially hostile forces," Natasha replied, before adding, "With about four escape routes."

"I'm perfectly aware," Harry replied. "So forget the Pizza. Oh, by the way guys. Natasha is a friend of mine, in case you haven't noticed. I suspect Moody _might _have heard of the Black Widow, aye?"

"Aye," said a disgruntled Moody, who fired a spell at Natasha, but quickly found it deflected. He tried casting another spell, but Harry was quicker, and disarmed him. "A murderous assassin, remorseless and a cold-hearted bitch, trained by her parents to rule. I'm not surprised that a dishonourable attention-seeker would ally with _her_."

"I should point out that I'm currently an ex-murderous assassin," she explained, before adding, "But I'm still _kind of _a remorseless, cold-hearted bitch though. Depending on who it is. I wouldn't shed a tear at your death, Mad-Eye."

Everybody seemed to become instantly alert at this. Wand attention shifted from having the majority on Harry to the majority on Natasha, who put her hands up in a mock defeat. "Oh, please. I could take care of at least the first five of you without a wand before you even fired once. Are we done here, Potter? Because I'm starting to think we should leave."

"Not yet," Harry whispered back, and said, to the collective membership of the Order of the Phoenix, "Anymore questions? I'm sure you have plenty to ask."

"You're allowing us to ask them?" Hermione asked, and once again, Harry felt sorry for her falling in with the morons of the Order of the Phoenix. She was smarter than the others, and was probably only here because of that incident in first year when rescuing her from the troll; Hermione mistook Harry to be Michael (a common mistake, back then, despite the fact that Harry wore Ravenclaw robes) and promptly latched onto the duo of Michael and Ron. Harry didn't know why they put up with her, but he guessed it was for the intelligence that she provided to the trio that had became known as the 'Golden Trio' after their so-called adventures. In reality, they were far from Golden, with every word that had been attributed to Harry over the years could have probably fit them just fine. "Shouldn't you be figuring out methods of escaping? I mean, that's what I would be doing."

"Maybe because we've already thought of methods of escaping," Natasha covered for Harry. "And there's four ways out of this place, in case you haven't noticed. Four things that you've forgotten to cover."

"Would you care to enlighten us, Miss Romanoff?" this was from Dumbledore.

"Escape route one, through all of you and out the front door," Natasha commented offhand. "This is probably the most ineffective escape route as we'll end up having to no doubt take some of you down before we can get there, and we don't want to be stuck in a fight where you can probably call for reinforcements. Escape route two, we apparate out the way we came."

"Where's the fun in that, though?" asked Harry, winking at her.

Natasha nodded, and continued, "Exactly, plus we'd both have to agree on where we're going. The Death Eaters discovered our last base, so we're going to have to think of somewhere new, which leaves us with options three and four."

"Which are?" James Potter asked, addressing Natasha.

"Option Three: through the side door on our left, although that will probably lead us into another room with no way out. Most likely some sort of kitchen," deduced Natasha. "This leaves us with Option Four, the one option that you overlooked, the one thing that you really should have taken into account if you wanted to keep us here."

Without waiting for a response, the red-haired girl produced two smoke grenades from her belt, which had been equipped before she had even gone to fight Harry in Manhattan, and chucked them onto the table that the Order of the Phoenix had been sat at. Only Hermione and Lily moved to get out of the way, having recognised what they were to a certain extent, for they both knew what a grenade looked like. Harry, seeing what Natasha was doing as smoke began to fill the air, cast a spell to protect both him and Natasha from the smoke and when it was so clouded that the Order couldn't see, they ran straight through the middle, leaping over the table towards the door, the brother of the Boy Who Lived following the Black Widow.

"Those weren't normal smoke grenades, were they?" he asked her, once they had left the front door of Grimmauld Place and began running as fast as they could down the road, whilst Harry begun to think of places that they could go to if they apparated, but drawing a blank.

Natasha replied, "Of course, they were made by the Court of Nightmares. Right now, although I hate to use them, the collective membership of the Order of the Phoenix is currently experiencing their worst fears made realised for the best part of five minutes."

"Good job," complimented Harry. "Now, I've got a place in mind where we could hide out. "

"How about you let me pick the destination this time?" Natasha asked, with a brief smile. "Because all your destinations are now apparently compromised."

"Yeah, but do you know a place that will escape the attention of the Order of the Phoenix, the Court of Nightmares and the Death Eaters all at once?" asked Harry, as they rounded the corner at the end of the street, and blended in with a group of teenagers their on a College trip to a nearby Museum. He was rewarded with a shake of the head from Natasha, and that was when he said, "Follow my lead."

**Tentative Title for Chapter 6:**_** The Magician – **__Having seemingly found a safe place of residence, Natasha and Harry soon find themselves thrust into action yet again when a muggle town suffers from a Death Eater raid. When the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix cannot respond, will Harry and his newfound ally be able to interfere? Will they want to?_

Also, a final note, please review. I accept positive and negative criticism as long as it's not outright flaming. Reviewing also motivates me to write more, and quicker.


	7. The Magician

**COURT OF NIGHTMARES  
**

**Chapter Six: The Magician**

_**I**_

They stuck with the group of teenagers until they entered the museum that had been their destination, filing out of the group and down the road, away from the main building. Once they entered a back alley, Natasha checked briefly to see if anybody wasn't following them. "Okay. What do you have now? Where do we go?"

"Diagon Alley," explained Harry, with a wink. "Or... not exactly. There's a Travelodge opposite that we could stay in."

"You're kidding me, right?" Natasha asked, looking at him. "They'll be looking in Diagon Alley for sure. We wouldn't last two seconds."

"That's why we're not going to Diagon Alley," said Harry. "We're going to the road by the pub. C'mon, I know a back alley where we can apparate to."

"Ok, but if we get caught, I'm breaking my rule about no killing," Natasha said, but took his hand anyway, if somewhat reluctantly. "I'm starting to get used to this –"

"-Now", she said, finishing her sentence as they both apparated, landing in a small back alley. Unprepared for the apparition, she became detached from Harry's hand and tumbled across the alley. Climbing to her feet moments later as though it were nothing, the red-haired teenager exclaimed, "You cheated. You didn't tell me when we were going to apparate."

"You should have been getting used to this," offered Harry. "Come on. The tricky part's going to be getting into the Travelodge. Once we get in there, it'll be no problem."

"Oh? And do you have any money on you?" Natasha asked, with a grin.

"Actually, yes I do. I stocked up on notes before we left," he said with a smile, and produced a £100 note, and handed it to Natasha. "I've got several. £50's, £20's as well. Courtesy of the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts."

"Room of Requirement?"

"A Room where you can get everything that you want but food," offered Harry, with a grin. "Including trousers that have pockets that are bigger on the inside."

"You didn't think about getting me some? They could have been useful," Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I did," he explained. "I got you a complete change of clothes. Had to mix and match though, wasn't sure what you'd like. We can find out when we're in the Travelodge. Failing that, we can always use Polyjuice and go shopping."

"As long as I don't end up as an old man," Natasha said, and they both burst out laughing. "Can you imagine me looking like _Dumbledore_?"

"Yes actually, I can," snickered Harry, ignoring the look that he got from Natasha. "Right then, Nat. I might call you Nat from now on for short."

"Only if I can call you Har," Natasha said, and something told him that she wasn't pleased by the use of the nickname.

"Alright then," Harry agreed, holding his hands up in defeat. "No Nat. But I think you might want to pick another name, just in case they ask who's staying at the hotel."

"Try not to pick your brother's name this time," Natasha said with a chuckle. "I can't believe you actually did that! You made it _so easy _for me to find you."

"It was an on-the-spot decision," Harry protested, frowning. "Alright. I'll go with Peter Parker. You can go with Natalia Parker. We can be brother and sister."

"How about we be friends instead? We don't look anything like each other," reasoned Natasha. Harry decided not to point out that Peter Parker was currently one year old, and living in Manhattan. "I'll be Natalia Ishchenko, exchange student."

"Fair enough," Harry commented, and together, Peter Parker and Natalia Ishchenko left the back alley, as though they hadn't been plotting false names and occupations moments ago. Natasha adopted the chatty, typical teenager look of Natalia with unnatural ease, and Harry cancelled the translation spell so that she spoke fully in Russian, and Harry could not understand what she was saying, meaning that she had to resort to heavily accented English. Surprisingly, checking in at the Travelodge wasn't a problem – they managed to get away by giving the staff member a £50 tip and acquire a room overlooking the Leaky Cauldron, which allowed them to see if anybody entered the building below – who looked vaguely magical. Once they were in the room, they ran into a potential issue – It only had one double bed.

Which, of course - Natasha claimed instantly. Once Harry had put the translation spell back on, he spoke - "Erm, how about we do end to end? That is, if you don't want to sleep next to each other," offered Harry, somewhat awkwardly.

"End to end?"

"I sleep with my head at the other end of the bed and you sleep with your head at that end," he explained, and Natasha nodded. "But I wouldn't get ourselves too comfy yet. We still need to get food and work on a plan for what to do."

"Hang on, I'm going to see if there's anything on TV first," Natasha offered. "We can watch the news – after all, it's always good to know what's happening. What Channel's the news on in England?"

"BBC," he offered, before adding, "BBC One."

The television remote was turned on, and just as they did so, they knew something was wrong. The camera for one was shaking, and it was evening where the muggles were filming their news. However, what was slightly worrying, and slightly obvious – was that there was a massive, floating _Dark Mark _in the air, which signified the work of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters. This wasn't good, especially when it seemed that judging by the fact that the news reporter was able to get out this to the general non wizarding public, then the Ministry and the Order weren't able to intervene. Something had happened that had distracted their attention, in the case of the Order of the Phoenix, probably being the fact that their headquarters had just been (unintentionally) raided by Harry and Natasha, the latter being one of the most infamous muggle assassins known around the world. On the screen, the reporter was saying, "...one of the most recent incidents of these so-labelled _Dark Marks _to appear in the country since an initial phenomenal outbreak of them since the nineteen-seventies. These _Dark Marks _normally followed what was appeared to be at first several gas leaks, which lead to the deaths of several people, but as new groundbreaking evidence shows, the deaths were not, I repeat – were not caused by-argh!"

The reporter was blasted across the camera and out of sight, as a loud scream could be heard from behind the camera. An all-too familiar green light shot past the camera, and it dropped to the floor, and a loud crack could be heard as it smashed onto the concrete paving stones. Instantly alert, Harry leapt from his bed, and announced, "So, Natasha? Want to play the hero?"

"Are you sure this is wise? I mean, we don't know how many Death Eaters are there," explained Natasha. "Or even if it _is _the Death Eaters. It could be the Court."

"Does it look like the Court would do this?" Harry asked, putting on a coat that he had extracted from his pocket. He chucked another one to Natasha, who despite the fact that he had said that they were bigger on the inside, was still awed by the fact that he could get so much stuff into something that looked so small. "And don't tell me you don't want to kick some Death Eater ass. Besides, we're going undercover."

"As Peter Parker and Natalia Ishchenko?"

"As the Magician and the Black Widow," Harry said, and extracted a mask that would be able to cover his face from being recognised. The hair colour was changed as well, so now he looked like some sort of superhero that could be found in the comics popularised by the main industry known as DC_, _responsible for the creation of characters like Batman and Superman. "Here."

He chucked her a mask that matched the colour of her hair. Once she had changed into her rubber costume that Harry had found for her, she found that she grew rather fond of it, and was able to change her hairstyle easily so that she no longer looked like the Natasha Romanoff that the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix had encountered, but the Black Widow in all her glory. Harry had adopted the title of the Magician, and now wore a combination of a red and black, and had given a hint of brown to his hair to make it recognisably different. Both could no longer be identified as Harry Potter or Natasha Romanoff, or any of their past aliases. "Here, take these," Harry said again once they had suited up, Natasha changing in the bathroom. She found a pair of pistols waiting for her upon their return, and knew how to use them with deadly accuracy. "You're ready to go."

"Uh, how am I meant to carry and apparate at the same time?"

"Oh, right. My bad," Harry replied, and promptly enlarged the insides of her pockets, allowing her to store her pistols.

_**II**_

Today was a good day for Dolohov, one of Voldemort's high-ranking Death Eaters, and one of those that had been handpicked to launch this raid into the muggle town. He'd already had the fun of torturing two worthless muggles, and was now about to torture a third, with the Cruciatus curse. Having rounded up all the women for future use in the illegal brothels, and separated the men – he was now having a marvellous time, especially as the Ministry had not been alerted to this attack due to the high levels of corruption in its ranks. Dumbledore's ragtag band of wannabe-vigilantes, the Order of the Phoenix, were currently not showing any signs of interfering which was particularly good news. Dolohov was slightly disappointed that following Voldemort's mission to Europe, which would probably leave him absent for the best part of two years, to secure the alliance of the pureblood wizards and all manners of dark creatures abroad, that he had not been elected overall commander of the Death Eater ranks – that honour had passed to Bellatrix Lestrange, who would have her enthusiasm for battle tempered by double-agent Severus Snape and the snivelling Lucius Malfoy. "Bring the bitch to me," he declared, gesturing at the blonde-haired teenager, the next victim of his imprisonment. "I want to deal with this one _right _now."

The girl's face was streaked with blood, from an earlier conflict which had resorted in an exploding building and without medical attention – things were looking grim. She was too terrified to respond, too confused by the seemingly impossible spells that had been cast by the Death Eaters. The muggles had tried to get word out to their fellow scum via such devices that were apparently called computers, but several 'telegraph' poles had been taken out around the nearby area. They'd even stopped a woman who was brave enough to cast a news broadcast, and as long as they left nobody alive and with no evidence, then the Statue of Secrecy would be upheld.

"You're inhuman! You're monsters!" the girl, it seemed – did have some fighting spirit in her. When Dolohov raised his wand, he had a particular curse to cast in mind. How would the girl like it when she would later find out that she had given herself to him under the imperious curse? She wouldn't know that it was an imperious curse, and therefore would presume that she had gone to him willingly. Oh, the look on her face would be worth many a memory re-watch. Smiling to himself, he raised his wand, preparing to cast the spell, when-

"Stupefy!" a loud shout could be heard from Dolohov right, and he found himself getting blasted backwards. "Bombarda!"

_**III**_

"Are you alright?" Harry asked the blonde-haired girl, careful not to blow his cover. "Can you move?"

"Yeah," she said, climbing to her feet. "Thanks. Who are these people? How can you do that? Who are you?"

"I'm the Magician," Harry said with a grin, and blasted a spell at an oncoming Death Eater. "And let me tell you... this ends tonight. No more people will die. How many are there?"

"Seventeen," explained the girl. "You took out two of that number, so fifteen."

"Good. My friend's just taken out two more, by the looks of things. You have anywhere you can go to safety?"

"My house, if it's still standing. But my parents..."

"Go home. If we find your parents, we'll tell them that you're safe. Your name is?"

"Melissa Chase," she informed him, and then fled the scene as fast as she could. Silently thanking Chase for her co-operation, Harry blasted a wand at an oncoming Death Eater, and saw two more getting taken down by Natasha's specially adapted pistols that had been set to stun, shortly before they had left the house. She was preferring to use hand to hand combat with the Death Eaters, and they were taken down in quick succession. It was a losing battle, and by the end of the day, it was clear that Harry – with the support of Natasha, or he corrected himself – mainly due to the support of Natasha, the Death Eaters he'd stopped above were the only ones he'd managed to knock off – that the Black Widow and the Magician were victorious.

Grabbing Dolohov once the battle was over, Harry raised his hand in a mock salute to the people of the town; those stranded in the midist of the fighting, and had promptly dispelled the mark of the Death Eaters. 'Natasha,' he said, once he was reunited with her. "We need to move. I got this bastard; he might be useful to us."

"I'll be more than happy to interrogate him," Natasha said with a smile. "Back to the Travelodge? Can you apparate three people at once?"

"I can try," he offered, smirking. "Take my hand?"

"You're going to have to teach me how to do this sometime," Natasha said. "People might start think that we're romantically involved."

"Let them think that," Harry offered. "I've put up with lies for most of my life. What's one more? You coming?"

"Sure," she shrugged, and took his hand. Dolohov, as he was unconscious, didn't have much choice in the matter and was dragged along with Harry and Natasha as they vanished from the town, back to their temporary residence. Quickly putting up powerful _Muffliato _spells around the entire room so that fellow residents and the staff would not hear what was said, Harry turned back to Natasha, and said – "Are you any good at interrogating? I'm not. I can't interrogate anyone to save my backside."

"As it happens, The Black Widow is a master of the arts of the interrogation," Natasha said with a grin, and asked, "Can you wake him up? I don't need to get a bucket of water or anything like that, do I?"

"Nope," Harry said. "You're going to ask him what... The Dark Lord is doing with his forces. Don't call him by his name or else we'll bring a shit-storm down on us in seconds. We want to know what he's doing, and... actually. Hold on. I've got a better idea."

"A better idea than letting me interrogate him? What have you got, some sort of potion that makes him tell the truth?"

"Something like that," explained Harry, and dug into his pocket. Once he extracted a small vial of a clouded liquid, the Magician cast the spell to bring Dolohov to his senses. Starting to swear loudly, when he caught sight of his kidnappers, Dolohov realised that he couldn't move – having been handcuffed to the bed. "So, Dolohov? You ready to tell me your secrets?"

"I ain't telling you nothin'," Dolohov spat at Harry, who winced as he had to rub the saliva out of his face. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"Oh you will tell me everything," Harry replied, forcing the truth potion – Veritaserum, down his mouth. Once he made sure that Dolohov had swallowed it, Harry asked, "Where is the current location of the Dark Lord?"

"In... Germany," Dolohov spluttered, trying to resist – but obviously failing. "On a mission. For a year. Didn't tell me what he was doing."

"Alright," Harry replied, "Now we're getting somewhere. You keep answering me these questions and then maybe I won't kill you."

Of course, Harry was lying – he doubted he'd have the stomach to kill just yet, "Now, you're going to identify the names of the current high-ranking members of the Death Eaters, those who have taken charge in his absence."

"Lucius Malfoy. Bellatrix Lestrange. Me," listed Dolohov, taking a pause before continuing: "Severus Snape. A spy in the Order of the Phoenix."

Harry shared a look with Natasha, who didn't respond, not knowing who Severus Snape was. "Anybody else?"

"No," Dolohov replied. "What else do you want to know?"

"Whether there are any methods of defeating your master. If he isn't truly invincible, as he claims. You will tell me all you know."

"Horcruxes," Dolohov told him after a seconds of thought. "He's using Horcruxes. I overheard him talking to... somebody. I don't know who. They mentioned something about Nightmares."

Harry gulped, glancing at Natasha, who shared his gaze.

"Does that mean something to you?" Dolohov asked, smiling. "Nightmares... ah yes. They are the Court. That must have been what he was talking about. I recognise you, Black Widow. You are an agent of the Court. Or you were... heh. Moriarty knows that you have betrayed him. He's angry. There's nowhere you can run now, Black Widow. _Nowhere_ will be safe from the Court of Nightmares. Same goes for your companion, too. If we do not hunt you down and find you first, then the Court will."

"Horcruxes," prompted Harry, having heard about them after listening in on a discussion between Dumbledore and Michael, his brother, watching unobserved, unnoticed from the shadows as Dumbledore began to feed him lies that _Michael _was the Boy Who Lived, and therefore – he would need to know what they were. There were seven, apparently – but he asked Dolohov to confirm it. Frankly, he was surprise that Dolohov knew at all. "Do you know what they might be? Where they are?"

"Hufflepuff's Cup," Dolohov replied, instantly. "In Gringotts. Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. Nothing can get in or out, he's increased the defences after Sirius Black tried to get in there once, as a prank, so he says. Needless to say the Goblins didn't take to him too kindly after that. You won't be able to get in there though. There's Goblins, Dragons... and worse."

"What could be worse than Dragons?" Natasha asked, glancing at Harry with a look in her eye. This informed him that _she knew. _It was the Court of Nightmares... somehow. "And your plan? What do we do now?"

"We dump Dolohov somewhere, and then get some rest," Harry said, with a smile. "How does Devon sound to you, Dolohov? Devon with no memory."

"No..." Dolohov suddenly realised what was coming next.

"_Obliviate_!"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

Hopefully, you guys liked the longer chapter length. Unfortunately though, you're going to have to wait longer for updates as I'm going to be spending longer writing chapters. I also know how this is going to go right up until the first _Iron Man_ film, and I have decided that the X-Men will play a role in this as well. Not in the next chapter, but soon. I've also decided to split the storyline down into "Seasons", or "Arcs," in a similar way that a TV series is split. For example, _Game of Thrones _has ten episodes. Unless I choose to add any chapters in the future, the first "Season" of _Earth's Mightiest Heroes, _entitled _The Court of Nightmares, _will run for ten-ish chapters. Then there'll be a movie in-between each series, and I've decided that the timeline that I've got planned out fits nicely with when the first _X-Men _film was released.

So yes, by the end of this season, we're going to be moving into X-Men territory. This means we get appearances from Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Professor X and Rogue. These will be a twist on the original movies with the inclusion of Harry, who has now established his 'superhero' status even if he doesn't have any powers _just _yet, as the Magician (I know it's sort of a cliché but hey... let's roll with it) and Natasha as the Black Widow. I don't know how many chapters the movie'll take yet, but I'm going to try and stick to the rough plot with Harry and Natasha involved.

As to how they get there, well... you'll see within hopefully the next four Chapters, maybe more. Remember to review, though. Any positive/negative feedback is welcome apart from flaming.

**Tentative Next Chapter Title: **_The Immortal Man! _**– **Having located a Horcrux, Harry and Natasha must now set about breaking into one of the world's most famous wizarding banks – Gringotts, in order to retrieve Lord Voldemort's Horcrux – Hufflepuff's Cup. However, this is no easy challenge – as far worse things than dragons lurk in the vaults of the wizarding bank. And the Court of Nightmares remains ever watchful...


	8. The Immortal Man - P1

**COURT OF NIGHTMARES  
**

Yep, we have not only our longest Chapter, but also our first two-part Chapter split of the "Season". I initially planned _The Immortal Man _to be a one parter, but it just kept getting longer and longer, so I decided to keep it as a two parter. That means there's another cliffhanger, folks. But on the plus side, we've only got Chapters 8, 9 and 10 to go until the _Court of Nightmares _story arc is completed, and we move onto the first _X-Men _movie. You'll see how the X-Menare involved either in the second part of _The Immortal Man _or in Chapter 9, which is titled - but I don't want to reveal it just yet.

**Chapter Seven: The Immortal Man (P1)**

_**I**_

They waited until the following night to participate in their raid. Media attention at this point was already substantial, the Black Widow and the Magician having now been splattered across every newspaper and television program. Harry was glad for the decision to adopt an alternate identity, as he believed that he was already drawing too much attention from what he had liked. Natasha was slightly annoyed by the fact that they'd gained so much publicity, but Harry knew that it was unavoidable if they had wanted to stop that town from being attacked by Death Eaters.

They'd also gained valuable information about Voldemort. What was he doing in Germany that would require his absence for a year? It was rare for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to take any lengths of time out of the country, but nonetheless – he was relieved to find his absence. Hopefully this would lead to disorder and mistrust in the ranks of the Death Eaters, infighting maybe? A few more defeats would start the lower-ranking members to question the ability of the higher-ranks to command. All they needed was a few more victories.

Worst case scenario, aside from the fact that they didn't get any more victories over the Death Eaters, was that Voldemort would be informed that his Death Eaters had disintegrated with petty infighting and would return to command his forces. A victory here, Harry thought – would give him the edge that they needed. But he had no way of knowing what lay in Bellatrix Lestrange's Vault, and no way of getting inside without the woman herself. This was, of course – going to be a challenge, especially as she was one of Voldemort's top leaders.

There was no way they could get into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault without her.

This was why Natasha had suggested to interrogate another Death Eater about the location of Bellatrix Lestrange, and that was why they were here, about to strike at another rumoured Death Eater location to stop one of the most fearsome combatants of the Dark Lord's forces. The home of none other than Lucius Malfoy himself, a "respected" Ministry Official, rumoured to be the current hideaway of Bellatrix Lestrange. As the collective Malfoy family were in a meeting at the Ministry, they wouldn't be alerted, especially as Harry had found a way in through the wards.

As a captive.

Or to be more precise, using _Natasha _as a captive. She'd act as bait, lure the Death Eaters stationed there to take her in to the home, where she would knock out Bellatrix Lestrange and take a sample of her hair for Polyjuice potion, which would be used by the same female that was now currently questioned by Death Eaters, which Harry was observing with binoculars, magically enhanced to pick up sound, from a distance. "Look what we got here, Sharpie," one of the Death Eaters said, glancing at the one on the left of him, wand out. The other Death Eater was holding Natasha by both hands as captive.

There were a lot of things, Harry realised – that could go wrong about this operation, but they _needed _the hair of Bellatrix in order to get to the Vault at Gringotts. Without that, then they might as well give up and start looking for other horcruxes.

"We got ourselves the Black Widow. Nuthin' more than a Pretty face," snarled the Death Eater, evidently called Sharpie. He was rewarded with spit in the face from Natasha, causing Sharpie to lash out in return, his hand drawing blood. "You'll regret that, bitch. Especially when you know what the Court has planned for deserters. Running away with the Potter freak? He's dead too."

"You wish you could kill me, don't you?" Natasha taunted, and Harry realised that she was trying to see how far they could be pushed. If they were angry, they'd make mistakes. That was the positive side. The downside would be that you might get killed.

"Shuddit, bitch," Sharpie snarled. "Should we take this one to Lestrange? She might want to have some fun with her before the Court are called. Last I hear, she's in the mood for some torturin'."

"The Court wants her unharmed," observed the silent Death Eater, the one that hadn't spoken yet. "_Physically _unharmed is what they specified. Didn't say anything about mind torture though."

"Awright then," Sharpie said, and dragged Natasha along with her. Natasha must have done this thing before, Harry recall, while she was the Black Widow. Heck, she still was the Black Widow, but no longer was she an assassin. For the foreseeable future at least, there'd be no killing where possible.

_**II**_

Natasha looked around, observing the glorified interior of the Malfoy household that was, by all accounts – a mansion, with far more many rooms than was needed for the three people who currently lived there – soon to be two, as Draco Malfoy would be moving out into his new house in London, according to the Death Eater's gossip. She remained silent as she was brought into the main foyer of the house, where she was greeted by a black-haired, tall woman on the wrong side of forty, with uncut hair loose and wild. This woman was one of the most famous Death Eaters ever to have lived, and she certainly looked the part, especially right now – when she was _slightly _pissed off. Only _slightly, _though. She was of course, the first to speak. "I see this is the famous Black Widow."

"Lestrange," retorted Natasha, aware that Harry was listening in on a communicator, which the witches and wizards hadn't checked for, believing her to be a muggle and incapable of fighting as they didn't have a wand. They didn't even bother to remove her bigger-on-the-inside pocket, which contained her favourite pair of pistols and one more Nightmare grenade left. She wouldn't use that here, though. Not just yet, not when she didn't know what the Death Eaters feared. She used it on the Order for a quick escape, but she had other plans in mind. "I'd say it's an honour, but I'm not really rooting for the bad guys anymore."

She laughed, and cast the Cruciatus curse at Natasha, who tried, and failed to hold back the scream. _'So much for being unharmed,' _she thought, wondering for a brief second how crazy this Lestrange might be. She was certainly up there with the top ones though, and defeating her would be a challenge indeed. But luckily all she needed was a hair.

"So, you just decided to give yourself up, then, foolish girl? Did you think that the Court, or the Death Eaters, would be merciful?" Lestrange sneered, walking around her. "I think you are mistaken, if that is the case. Whilst Moriarty has requested that you return unharmed, he _did _specify that you were returned with Potter, not individually. Therefore we are allowed to have our fun with you as long as you are healed before Potter is caught."

"Ah, but you see, Lestrange," Natasha said, a smile on her face. She loved this part. The idiots really needed to think about re-designing the manor and improving their kidnapping skills, because she wasn't even handcuffed. Evidently the cockiness of the Death Eaters thought that they'd be able to draw their wands and fire spells at her before she acted. _'Their mistake,_' she thought, relishing the fact that she was now in control, despite the fact that the Cruciatus curse still hurt like hell. "I don't plan on sticking around to wait for Potter to get caught."

Her retort was met with another laugh from Lestrange, and then, as predicted, came the comment, "You don't have a chance of escaping from here without magic! None of your insignificant muggle weapons can harm pureblood wizards and witches, and even if you did have magic, you would be no match for my superiority."

"I wasn't planning on using my _insignificant _weapons to harm you," explained Natasha. "At least, not directly."

Before she had even finished her sentence, she whipped out her pistols and shot both at the massive, gothic chandelier that was being held a few yards behind her, above Lestrange and the three Death Eaters. Too slow to move as it gave way , the Chandelier came crashing down on the stunned trio with a loud noise that couldn't be prevented.

However, heat-sensors had ensured Natasha that the house was empty tonight. Aside from Lestrange and the three Death Eaters out on patrol, there was only two currently in the house. Wincing as they were knocked unconscious by the weight of the chandelier, Natasha sprinted over towards the three to confirm that they were unconscious, and plucked hair from Lestrange.

The two Death Eaters who weren't present entered the room in single file, wands blazing. Dodging two curses, Natasha fired bullets from her dual wielded pistols – set for stun of course, at the first one, who crumpled to the floor, unconscious. The next one was brought down seconds later, who stopped in shock realisation that there were muggle weapons that could actually hurt Death Eaters.

Smiling to herself, Natasha's only complaint with the operation was that the chandelier's candles weren't lit, because the house would have erupted into flames otherwise, However, that would most likely kill the Death Eaters stationed in the house. This was good for the fact that they were Death Eaters, but not good for the whole 'moral high ground' part of the equation, which was why Natasha had joined the Court of Nightmares in the first place – in order to have her mind wiped. Not because she knew that they'd turn her into an even deadlier assassin afterwards.

Knowing that Harry was listening in, Natasha said, "Right, Gringotts?"

There was no reply, for it was a one way communicator, but she knew that he'd heard. With that, the Black Widow left the room, knowing that the Death Eaters should be unconscious long enough for the duo to do what needed to be done.

_**III**_

Getting Natasha into Gringotts would be easy, as due to how corrupt the Ministry of Magic was right now, even somebody like Bellatrix Lestrange, a wanted war criminal, could walk through the middle of Diagon Alley in broad daylight – and if attacked, depending on the aurors that responded, would not be arrested. Instead, the attackers would be. However, getting Harry into position would be a lot more difficult, as he lacked the Invisibility Cloak that belonged to his parents.

So they'd decided to give him the name Harry Dresden, an American wizard from Chicago. If only they'd known that later, they would discover that an American author named Jim Butcher wrote about a very different wizard named Harry Dresden, who lived in Chicago. Of course, he'd taken the Polyjuice disguise of a muggle, but carried a wand holder on his arm at all times. Ignoring the looks that Harry and Natasha got as they made their way through Diagon Alley at night, only half an hour after their raid on Malfoy Manor, they knew that they would have the maximum of two hours to get the job done. Figuring out a way to dispose of a Horcrux would come later.

The first real difficulty that they encountered was to try and get a Goblin to take them down to Bellatrix's vault. Natasha had also managed to acquire the key from the fallen Death Eater with surprising ease – it wasn't stored in any sort of safe. When the Goblin asked Natasha to confirm his identity, Lestrange simply stated that it was a private matter and did not wish to be delayed. A bag of gold handed to the Goblin in question along with a threat that the Dark Lord would crush him if she did not reach her vault was all that it took for the Goblin to be convinced.

Discreetly, of course.

"Right this way, Madam Lestrange," the Goblin declared, and lead the way down to the cart-loading area, where they were greeted by a Death Eater awaiting them. "This is Madam Lestrange, and her American friend, Harry Dresden. They are here to visit her vault."

One of the Death Eaters, Harry noticed, was Macnair. The other was unknown. Macnair was the one to speak, and when he did so, he spoke in a low, gruff voice. "Lestrange. I thought you were at our Headquarters. And I don't remember us allying with the Americans, either. Surely The Dark Lord would have told us if he gained them as our ally."

"And are you a member of the Inner Circle, Macnair?" Natasha asked, adopting the harsh, insane voice of Bellatrix almost to perfection. "The Dark Lord does not tell everyone his motives."

"I'm aware of that, but..."

"Are you trying to question me, Macnair?" Natasha spat the name, having been informed of it in a whisper from Harry. "I could send the Werewolf to your home if you think of getting in my way... It is full moon soon, after all. All it would take was a whisper, to declare you as a traitor."

Macnair backed away, and Harry was marvelled at how _accurate _Natasha was portraying Lestrange, causing even the Death Eaters to bow before her, as Macnair promptly did so. "Ever so sorry, m'am. Just standard procedures. How long will you be?"

"As long as I want," snapped Natasha, and climbed into the cart. Harry and the Goblin followed, and it wasn't long before they were off. If they had looked behind them, they would have saw another Death Eater running down the ornate, gothic hallway, about to inform Macnair that the _real _Bellatrix Lestrange had just been unearthed from a collapsed chandelier back at Malfoy Manor, and that the one currently heading to her vault at Gringotts was an imposter.

_**IV**_

It didn't take long for Harry and Natasha to work out that their ruse had been discovered sooner than they hoped, for within seconds of taking off on the cart, an _Avada Kedavra _spell was hurled their way from another line, as a truck headed towards them carrying Macnair and his two accomplices, operated by a Goblin. "Goblin! Stop that truck! Lestrange is a fake!"

The Goblin moved to stop the truck, but Harry – panicking, did his best to put the creature under the _Imperio _curse, before having to plunge to the floor of the truck in an effort to avoid a spell cast in their direction at Macnair, landing in an awkward position, right at the feet of Natasha Romanoff, who was currently under the Polyjuice influence of the black-robed Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Damn," Natasha cursed, and glanced at her dress. "This is why I hate using these on this sort of mission. Do you have my Pistols?"

"Of course," Harry smiled, and reached into his pocket to pull them out, throwing them at the red-haired girl. "Say please."

She looked at Harry as he made his way back to the level position, where both of them were sitting in the cramped truck space, next to the Goblin who was operating the controls. Spellfire, thankfully inaccurate, was hurling all around them, mostly flashes of red and green. They hurtled through the maze of tracks, rocky outcrops and unknown locations as fast as the cart was allowing them to go. After a moments of awkward staring between Harry and Natasha, he handed over the pistols and instantly, Natasha kicked into action, pistols set for stun, firing them at the cart, managing to hit it before it disappeared off behind a large rocky outpost that was tall enough to separate both of the tracks.

"At least we haven't run into any dragons yet," Harry said, and moved his head to the right in order to dodge a would-be-fatal curse, that smashed into a different part of the track. As if on cue, a loud roar echoed throughout Gringotts, causing the brother of the Boy-Who-Lived to gulp. "Well crap. I'm not going to say that I'm thankful for not having run into the extra security yet, either. I don't want to jinx it."

"We've got incoming!" warned Natasha, and Harry turned away from the cart full of Death Eaters to the dragon that was coming towards them. The track started into a dramatic vertical drop at the end of this particular cavern, but there was still the large, winged and _very _angry dragon to deal with, one that was heading directly towards them, collision course in mind. Natasha fired two bullets at the beast, but when the first harmlessly bounced of the skull, she didn't bother firing another. "I hope you've got a way of dealing with this. I've never encountered a dragon before."

"I've seen one in action," Harry replied, thinking back to the Triwizard Tournament, which took place in his Seventh Year, when the three competitors, one from Durmstrang, Beauxbaton and Hogwarts, Naturally, the Hogwarts one was his brother. "They're damn invincible. But hey, this'll be fun."

"I think I'm going to have to question your idea of fun," Natasha responded, fully aware of the fact that both the drop and the Dragon were getting closer. The question was – which one would they reach first? Would they avoid the dragon only to plummet off the cart and into the abyss below? Would Harry rather get burnt to death, or eaten alive?

It looked like the mandatory option was getting burnt to death when a large fireball careered towards them, hurled from the mouth of the dragon, but just before it struck the cart, its two human passengers cried out as it descended downwards at an alarming speed, into the swirling abyss below. And –

-_then there was a loud cheer. Harry, five years old, looked up across the living room at the vast pile of presents that were colourfully wrapped. They were piled high, most from fans, well-wishers, believers of the Boy Who Lived. There wasn't anything that was there for him, he was well aware of that. The last three birthdays had made that very clear. He was uncared for. Maybe when he got to Hogwarts, things would be different, maybe he could escape from his brother's shadow, but whilst he was here, things were –_

_-Always the same. Seven years on, and a twelve year Hogwarts was sat in a compartment on the Hogwarts train. Alone, of course. Always alone. Time had not been kind to him, and as a result of the lack of attention that had been paid to Harry, he had not grown as quickly as the rest of the people in his class. When they noticed him, he was teased, constantly bullied, his own house had turned against him even, and he spent few nights in the dormitories for fear of not knowing where he would wake up the next day. Things would not get better. His life was a- _

- Nightmare. This must have been the Court's defence. The Nightmares had made Harry lose track of where he was, and now he realised that he was falling, falling through the air, no longer attached to the cart, and due to the mists, no doubt conjured by the Court. He couldn't see –

-_anybody anywhere. Well, he could... but nobody that he knew. His third year, and the Brother of the Boy Who Lived had been forgotten. Nothing was new here, but they'd never left him at the train station before. He'd always thought that they'd care for him at least that much, his parents._

_He waited. Just to see how long it would take. For somebody, for anybody to come looking. He kept imagining that he would hear a shout, one word, and then he would see his parents rushing towards him with caring looks on their faces, finally relieved to see that their son was okay. Then, he heard it. That word, echoing in his ears _–

-"Harry!" It was Natasha. Jerked from his nightmares, he could see that the red-haired teenager was back in her own form again, and Lestrange's black dress was far too big for her. They'd lost sight of the Goblin, the cart and any track. She was falling as well, and no doubt having nightmares, but of a different kind. Harry was surprised that both of them weren't screaming continuously, but then he had fallen from a large height before during a Quidditch match at Hogwarts. Yes, he had been part of the Ravenclaw team, but only for one match when Cho Chang was injured in their sixth year. He'd got the snitch in about five minutes, but had never been called up for a match after that. "Use your wand! We don't want to hit the floor!"

Harry instantly snapped out his wand, and cast _Wingardium Leviosa _on Natasha, keeping her level in the air. The good news was that she was safe, and had not hit the ground, but the bad news was quite severe. The floor was right _there, _just directly beneath him. He could here Natasha screaming his name again, but there was nothing he could do, as he was too slow to cast the spell on himself before he could hit the floor.

That was, of course – when Harry James Potter blacked out, losing consciousness altogether.

**Title of Next Chapter**_**: The Immortal Man **_**(P2)** – _Natasha is alone, stranded and unable to use magic in the Vaults. And danger is coming from all sides, as the Black Widow unwittingly unearths the horrifying army of the Court of Nightmares. And to make matters worse, Harry James Potter, the teenager who saved her from hell – might not make it out alive. _


	9. The Immortal Man - P2

**The Court of Nightmares**

Thanks for all of the reviews so far, keep them coming. Positive or negative, I don't mind – as long as the negative's constructive criticism. But without further ado, here's Chapter 8, and the conclusion to _The Immortal Man _two parter. Readers who were disappointed by the no-killing rule should be pleased with this Chapter, even though I changed a few things from how it was initially planned to go in the teaser at Chapter 7.

Reference time. See if you can spot the _Torchwood _reference in this Chapter, it should be fairly easy for those who know of the TV show.

And yes – I am a fan of Jim Butcher's _Dresden Files. _It's my second favourite novel series, behind _A Song of Ice and Fire_ by George RR Martin. A free virtual cookie to those of you who got the reference. I couldn't resist. And also, who's seen the new _Iron Man 3 _trailer? It's awesome, isn't it?

**Chapter Eight: The Immortal Man (P2)**

_**I**_

The spell that was provided by Harry was powerful enough to keep Natasha airborne lasted just two seconds, but that was all it took to keep the red-haired girl alive. Even so, she did land on the floor in a crumpled heap, and was forced to climb to her feet with as much dignity as she had remaining. "Harry?" she glanced down at the unconscious form of the teenager who had rescued her from the Court of Nightmares. "Are you alright?"

No response. '_No', _she thought, reassuring herself. _'He's just unconscious. He... he can't be dead.' _However, she had no time to stick near Harry's body as the three Death Eaters, who appeared unaffected by the Nightmare League's defence mechanism, entered the cavern where she stood, stun-set pistols on and at the ready. "He's dead, filth. Nobody could survive a fall like that," the lead Death Eater, Macnair, announced. "I'll even make it clear for you. _Avada Kedavra_!"

The spell was not intended for Natasha, which allowed her to get a shot off at Macnair, who was blasted back across the cavern. However, the spell that he fired at Harry remained, and in order to try and avoid the next two spells cast her way from Macnair's fellow Death Eaters. "No!" she yelled, aloud this time, as the green-coloured spell hit Harry full on in the stomach. "You bastards!"

"I'm afraid my parents were married, whore," spat back one of the unknown Death Eaters, as Natasha hurled behind a rocky output for cover, just as a spell was blasted over head. She knew she could take down these Death Eaters instantly, but what then? There was no way to operate the carts, and they'd lost the Goblin that had delivered them when the cart flew off the edge of the drop. She was slowly starting to acknowledge that there was no way out. They hadn't prepared for this. She hadn't prepared for this. '_Stupid. You should have come prepared. The Black Widow always_ _comes prepared.'_

But the death of the first person that Natasha was beginning to count as a friend really wasn't something that she could prepare for, and it was all she could do to stop the tears flowing. She was now up against all the odds, after all – how was she going to get into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault without the Goblin? There was no way on, no way back. She might as well surrender now and let the Death Eaters deal with her. She could always escape when she got to the surface.

But then where would she go?

Luckily though, she didn't have to answer that question, as _Harry Potter, _the boy who had survived the killing curse at a very young age, gave a loud, choking sound as he spluttered back into life. Looking up, first observing the shocked Death Eaters, and the equally shocked Natasha Romanoff, he said, aloud, "Well... that's new."

_**II**_

The moment that Harry closed his eyes, he opened them in a different setting. Somewhere unfamiliar. A black, bleak wasteland full of wreckage, with some buildings still burning. This was no nightmare, he knew. Was this... the future? Hell? Some twisted Heaven? He was dead, wasn't he? That fall should have killed him. So many questions.

"Yet so little answers," said a voice from behind him, and Harry jumped in shock. There hadn't been anyone there when he'd first conducted a sweep of the area upon arrival, and the person that greeted him simply made him even more confused. It was none other than a direct replica to himself, looking almost exactly like him in every way. But how? Polyjuice? As if by magic, Harry 2 responded, "No, not by Polyjuice. It's complicated. Basically, I'm Death."

This took the original Harry by surprise. After all, who wouldn't be surprised by the fact that a replica of themselves was Death, and Death was actually a living, breathing human? He'd half expected to be confronted with something from Neil Gaiman's _Sandman, _one of his favourite graphic novels that he'd read from a muggle library, but knew that was ludicrous. After all, it was only a work of fiction, wasn't it? "I'm a shapeshifter, you know," explained Harry 2. "I usually take on the same form as others. Sometimes, for the more reluctant ones, the males in particular, I normally change into-"

Harry stepped back. He was no longer looking at himself, but a very pretty teenage girl. Red-haired, but different from Natasha in the fact that... well, the more that he looked at her, the more that he could see the resemblance between Death and Natasha Romanoff. At first, things looked different, but now? "You're kidding me, right?" Harry asked, surprised. "You don't change into Natasha every time you see someone?"

"No, I change into the person that they've got a crush on," Natasha 2 said, bluntly, in a very Natasha-esque voice. Harry blushed, startled. _Did he really have a crush on Natasha? _

"I'm afraid you're mistaken," he replied. "I don't like Natasha _that way_. We're just friends. We've only known each other for the better part of a few days anyway."

"Oh, sorry, I get confused with timelines. Especially with people who die more than once. Which death are you on at the moment? Your first? I had a nightmare of a time with one guy from Cardiff in another universe, couldn't decide which of his lovers to impersonate. Guy? Girl? Neither?" Death stated, continuing to adopt the voice of Natasha. Seeing Harry's blank stare, he – she, began to explain. "You'll die more than once in your future. It's a perk that I give to some people. You see, one day, you'll become Master of the Hallows. It's written. Just like you're the real Boy Who Lived, and all that rubbish. I can't believe how badly Dumbledore screwed up with that, I thought the old fool was meant to be wise!"

"Tell me about it," grunted Harry, looking out across the wasteland, ignoring the fact that he was meant to be the Boy Who Lived. He didn't care now, for whatever role fate had chosen for him, it had happened. It wasn't as if he could change the past, especially without access to a time-turner. "Where are we, anyway?"

"The future," Death said, again, adopting for the blunt approach. "I can't really explain how this happened, Laws of Time and all that, but this – unless you can do something to prevent it, Lord Flight-From-Death and the Moriarty-wannabe from taking over the world."

"So his real name's not Moriarty?" Harry asked, even though he already has presumed this. He was just double checking.

"No," Death said, chuckling. "Not Moriarty. But I'm afraid I can't say anything about it until the next time you die. Timelines and all that."

"What if I used the Imperio curse on you and told me to tell you?" Harry asked, and Death's chuckle erupted into a howl of laughter.

"Are you sure that's wise? Although, nobody's ever tried to cast a spell on me before," Death replied. "They normally have no wands."

"Normally," Harry replied, and extracted his wand from his holder. Or at least, tried to anyway – but there wasn't anything there.

"I wish I could stay for a chat and all," Death said, with sympathy. "But that bloke from Cardiff just died again. I'll have to pay him a visit. I can't be everywhere at once, you see – some people have to wait down here for a while."

Harry didn't even get the chance to ask if this was real. Closing his eyes in the _future, _he opened them again in the present, spluttering and choking as he entered the world once again. Seeing the shocked looks of the Death Eaters and even Natasha from the angle that he was currently in was a surprise, but he recovered from that quickly. After all, if someone who'd just died popped back to life after being dead, and said, "Well, that's new."

"Impossible," a Death Eater exclaimed, and was about to cast the killing curse at the brother of the Boy Who Lived, only to have a pistol shot blast his wand out of his hands from Natasha.

"Not impossible, just unlikely," Harry smiled, and glanced at Natasha. "You know that no killing rule, I think we're going to have to scrap that for the time being, right?"

Natasha looked at him, took a few moments to decide, and said, "Hang on. What just happened?"

"It turns out I'm an Immortal Man," Harry said, with a grin. "So, no killing rule off? We don't have much time before that bloke over there stops wetting himself and decides to cast a spell at us. And besides, they killed me. I figured we'd return the favour. They are _Death Eaters, _after all."

"As long as it's only Death Eaters that we kill," Natasha sighed reluctantly, and turned her pistols from stun setting to lethal again. "With them I've got no problem. Just killing your average Joe kind of blew me off the moral high ground."

"_Avada Kedavra!" _shouted the last remaining Death Eater, finally getting his act together and firing the killing curse at Harry, who dived out the way just in time.

"And where's that dragon, anyway?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "Would have thought it would have followed us like the Death Eaters did."

"Can we concentrate matters on the person that's trying to kill us rather than the thing that will eventually kill us, please?" Natasha asked, taking shelter behind the same rock that Harry had been. Macnair was still slumped against the edge of the cavern, unconscious by the shot from Natasha, and the other Death Eater was currently still getting over the fact that his wand, no doubt one that he had possessed since childhood, had just been destroyed by a muggle weapon. "And how do you plan on getting into that vault anyway? We don't even know where it is."

"We're going to have to split up and find it after killing the Death Eater. The Goblin mentioned it was Vault 216," Harry offered, before gesturing to a doorway a few yards behind them, which was connected by a large section of track. "That Vault over there is 243. We can't be far off."

"Very well," Natasha remarked. The boulder that that they were sitting behind was too large for them to see the Death Eater's location, and the last of the three wasn't making any noise. This was odd, Harry mused. '_Normally the Death Eaters are the 'take-them-all-on' types.' _The red-haired teenager voiced his thoughts seconds later. "Where's that Death Eater got to?"

"He could be waiting for us to sneak out. I'll distract him," Harry said. "Then you take the shot."

Natasha glanced at Harry. "Are you sure?"

"Perfectly," he replied, straightening his clothes. "This'll be fun. I can't die, remember?"

And then he climbed to his feet, and leapt out from the shelter, wand raised, and pointed it at – nothingness. The Death Eater had vanished. _Gone. _"Well, that was weird. Where'd his mates go?"

"Don't know. Something's wrong," Natasha replied. "Abort mission?"

"Not yet," Harry reasoned. "We're close. We need to find the Goblin, get the key, get the cup and get the hell out of here."

"I can see several problems with that plan," Natasha stated, bluntly. Suddenly, before they could continue to bicker any further, a loud, masculine scream could be heard from down the corridor. Harry guestured to his friend to follow, and they both took off towards the scream of something that was presumably the Death Eater that had been trying to kill them earlier.

They ended up continuing past two vaults, 242 and 241, before reaching another wide open clearing, where they found what had happened to the Death Eater and his friends, and to their horror – it was something that they couldn't have thought would ever be possible. They were horribly mutated, horribly disfigured, meeting an even worse fate than they had been when Harry and Natasha had attacked them. Parts of exposed flesh betrayed hideous boils, and their clothes had become torn and ragged. Bones were seemingly clearer were chunks of flesh had vanished, and they no longer looked in the same state from before. "Oh my God," Natasha exclaimed, shocked by this horror – as equally as Harry was. "What... how?"

"Impossible," breathed an awed, but equally terrified, Harry.

"Are they... Zombies?" Natasha asked, raising her pistols at the Death Eaters as they advanced. Blood was pouring out of the not-Macnair's hand where she had shot at his arm, and when they moved their mouth to speak, it was with a slow, gurgling and untranslatable voice.

"Don't know," replied Harry. "I think maybe we should start shooting and find out. Aim for the head."

"Sounds like a plan," Natasha remarked, and was thankful for the not-Death Eaters slow speed, and bringing both pistols to bear, she fired them head on at Macnair's head, no longer set for stun. The not-Macnair made no move to dodge from the bullet and as a result had his eyes blasted out of their sockets, as the bullets kept on going through its brain. Wincing as blood began to pour from even more body parts, Harry leapt into action.

"Split up!" he proclaimed, and headed away from Natasha towards their planned objective, looking behind to see what she had in mind. As it turned out, Natasha ended up firing another two shots at the one who they hadn't got the chance to kill, hitting the zombie in the head again with perfect accuracy, before making a tactical retreat after the brother of the Boy Who Lived, and taking the right. Harry took the left, and soon she was out of sight, with one zombie, the last surviving on her tail.

That was when a voice echoed in Harry's head, and he nearly gasped out loud in surprise. _"Keep going, Harry. You are almost there. The zombies dispatched by Natasha are not going to move again. And do not allow yourself to get injured, even you will become infected."  
_

"Who... who are you? Are you Death?"

"_No, I am not Death. You will find out who I am very soon, Harry. But you need to complete this mission first. The Goblin is dead, but there is another way into the vault," _the unknown voice explained in his head. _"Natasha is safe at the moment, I am currently guiding her towards her destination. I am a friend, Harry. I can help you."_

"How am I meant to trust you if you don't tell me your name, and can access my thoughts?" Harry asked, as he kept going through the dark. "And what's the other way into the Vault?"

"_The Dragon."  
_

"What Dragon?" Harry asked, briefly forgetting the beast that they had encountered earlier. Then, with one loud roar, the very same Dragon hurled itself down from above him and came barrelling towards Harry. But strangely, it did not attack the brother to the Boy Who Lived; it merely flew over its head.

"_I am controlling the mind of the Dragon, it will not attack you," _offered the voice in his head. '_Okay. That was normal_,' Harry thought, and began following the beast as it headed down the corridor, seemingly oblivious to him. _'I have a unknown powerful telepath in my head that's controlling dragons and can read my mind. And I've just come back from the dead. Right, totally normal.'_

"_Follow the Dragon to the Vault," _explained the voice. It was the voice of an older man, Harry realised, not Dumbledore and certainly not Voldemort. Then... who? Who could it be? A stranger? _"It will break into the vault for you."  
_

"Right," Harry breathed, somewhat sarcastically, but tailed the dragon towards the vault anyway. Once they arrived at their destination, the brother of the Boy Who Lived found himself united with a red-haired teenager who looked equally as surprised as he did, but was glad for his appearance anyway.

"Did you hear the voice in your head?" asked Natasha, getting straight to the point, seemingly not paying attention to the dragon that was now currently ramming into the doors of the Lestrange vault with its head, as hard as it could. The cavern shook as it hit the vault door, and rubble began to fall all around them.

"Yeah. At least I'm not going crazy. Any ideas as to who it is, and if we should trust them?"

"_You can trust me_," offered the voice, almost instantly. _"The Dragon will provide you with a way out once you get the cup."_

"Alright," Harry said, still disbelieving but when the vault door finally broke apart with as a result of the Dragon's attacks, he decided to journey into the vault anyway, and still managed to be surprised when he did not find himself consumed in fire. "So, Natasha. Where's that zombie that followed you?"

"Left him under a rock," explained Natasha. "And the voice said don't cut yourself. It's how it spreads, the disease. Something to do with what the Court set up as a defence mechanism. So we're looking for a cup, right?"

"Yeah," Harry glanced around at the golden items that was surrounding Lestrange's vault. Reaching into his bigger on the inside pocket, he produced a rope, one of the many things that he'd got from the Room of Requirement in case they got stranded in the Chamber when it was still their base. "Any good at lassoing?"

"Can't you use your magic on it?"

"No, won't work on Horcruxes," explained Harry. "But lassos might. We can tie the rope up to attach it around the horcrux with magic, and then levitate the Horcrux down to where we are."

"I thought you wanted me to lasso it."

"Then I had a brilliant idea," Harry smiled, and pointed his wand at the rope.

"_If you touch any gold, it will start to duplicate," _offered the voice in both of their heads. Harry noticed that the dragon had not followed them through, and breathed a sigh of relief. Natasha was evidently thinking the same thing as she decided not to question him. _"And I believe that your plan will work._"

"Thank you for the vote of confidence," Harry said, and then waved his wand in the direction of the rope, which he had just constructed in order to do what was necessary. He ended up doing what was necessary, and promptly made sure that the Horcrux was lowered into his pocket with magic without touching it. The rope was the last thing that had been in his pocket that he hadn't already used, and would have to stock up on equipment before his next Horcrux-hunt. If there was one. "Right, so now we get on the Dragon?"

"_Now you get on the dragon. It won't bite."_

"Ladies first?" Harry asked Natasha, who glared at him, before climbing on anyway. Harry followed shortly after, and found the red-haired teenager clinging to his back. Once they were secure, he made sure to use magic to keep them both firmly attached to the Dragon. He didn't want them falling off like they had with the cart. "And voice, don't suppose that you'd know if the nightmares will affect us again?"

"_No, they will only affect you when you are descending into the abyss. It does not work both ways."_

"Thank you," Harry said, and before he could say anything else, the dragon lurched forward, spreading its wings, and headed skywards. Whilst they were airborne, with the extra support of the magic to keep them from falling, he managed to aid Natasha in adopting their alternate disguises. It was difficult, as neither of them had changed clothes midair on the back of a dragon controlled by an absolute stranger before, but it was surprisingly accessible. Once they had changed, the Magician and the Black Widow were ready to emerge from Lestrange's Vault whilst keeping their main identities hidden.

_**III**_

Outside, Aurors were busy forming a barricade that would give them cover from when the two robbers departed from Gringotts bank, using magic. There was about twelve of them, lead by none other than veterans Kingsley Shacklebolt, Sirius Black and James Potter. The other commander was a younger, hot-headed Auror named Foley, a half-blood. "Caught like a rat in a trap," James Potter declared confidently. "These kids don't stand a chance. One of them's a muggle. How they managed to get into Gringotts is beyond me."

"They took the Polyjuice form of Bellatrix Lestrange," Shacklebolt offered. "How they got her hair is a mystery, although there was a reported break in at Malfoy Manor about five minutes. Lestrange could have been hiding there."

"That's bold," Potter declared. "I'd like to have a chat about them. Who do you reckon the Magician is?"

"Probably the person that we least expect," offered Sirius. Suddenly, there was a loud, terrifying roar from inside of Gringotts and as if on cue, several Goblins came filtering out of the bank, terrified. _'What could scare a goblin?' _Sirius thought, worried. _'What powers do they have_?' Then, the beast that was responsible for the roar revealed itself, crashing through the doors.

Referring to Potter's first statement, an equally awed and terrified Foley declared, "Uh, you might have the wrong animal there sir..."

"Good point," Potter remarked, breathless. The Dragon spread its wings, as several Aurors and residents of Diagon Alley lost their nerve and began to run. The Dragon reared its head, and ascended skyward, allowing the Aurors to catch two all-too-familiar characters sitting on the back of it. The Magician and the Black Widow.

"Are they in some kind of relationship or something?" Black asked, raising an eyebrow, before announcing, "Accio _Firebolt!_" as loud as he could, with a swish of his wave. Several Aurors did the same, calling their brooms to them. "Up for a chase?"

"Sirius, it would be my honour," Potter said sarcastically, and once his own Firebolt reached him, he mounted it and soared skyward. "We've got ourselves a dragon to catch."

_**IV**_

"_Follow my instructions," _the voice in Harry's head spoke, as they hurtled along the river Thames as fast as the dragon could carry them, followed by the aurors on their broomsticks, having cast notice-me-not charms on themselves and the dragon to avoid causing confusion with the muggles. _"We have a jet inbound from America. It should be with you shortly." _

Harry looked behind him at Natasha, confused. Just who were these people? And there was no clear sign of any jet heading towards them, but the Aurors were still trailing them. The dragon seemed intent on staying as low to the water as possible, whether this was the unknown man's doing or its own, Harry didn't know. What he did know though was that would not be the last bridge that they _very nearly _hit, and he doubted his notice-me-not charm would be able to protect them from being noticed. Because it didn't make you invisible completely, just unnoticed.

That was when they saw it. The jet, slowing down from when it had been previously at a nigh-impossible speed. "Looks like that's our ride," Natasha remarked. "Harry, can you apparate us onto there?"

"I'll do my best," he replied. "What should we do with the dragon?"

"Ditch it," she shrugged. "The Aurors seem more than happy to have something to chase."

_"I will guide the dragon," _the voice replied. "_Once you get on board, I will be able to tell you my name."_

Without further ado, Natasha grasped Harry by the hand, and they vanished from the dragon, apparating (and landing in a crumpled heap), in the inside cockpit of the jet that had carried them, the image of its interior being projected into his head by the unknown man.

As Harry and Natasha began to climb to their feet, they took in their new surroundings and the people that were inside the Jet. There was four all told, one a red-haired woman, far older than Natasha was, another a sunglasses-wearing man, and the third standing was a dark-skinned, white-haired woman. All of whom Harry did not know the name of. The last man was wheelchair bound, old and caring, but seemingly shared no similarities with Albus-I-have-too-many-middle-names-for-my-own-good-Dumbledore. "Greetings Harry and Natasha," said the wheelchair-bound man, which was when both teenagers shared the recognition that he was the man who had been speaking in their head all along. "This is Scott Summers, Jean Grey and Ororo Monroe. You are amongst friends here. I am Professor Charles Xavier. Welcome to the X-Men."

**Preview of Chapter 9**_** – Defence of the X-Mansion**_** (P1): **_Witness the first part of the finale to the Court of Nightmares Story Arc! Harry and Natasha may have found themselves among allies for the first time since teaming up, but the Court of Nightmares are not far behind. When Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted and Talented comes under siege, the X-Men may have to pull out all the stops in order to defeat the Court of Nightmares. _


	10. Defence of the X-Mansion - P1

**Court of Nightmares**

To answer a few questions that have been cropping up recently, Harry did not apparate into Hogwarts, he apparated into the Chamber of Secrets, which in my fic, was beneath the wards of Hogwarts and as Salazar Slytherin thought that only he and his heirs knew how to access it and his location, it would not need to be apparated into. Also, I don't remember at any points in the films or books does it state that there's a limit on where you can apparate. According to the Harry Potter wiki, apparition becomes increasingly difficult with the distance travelled. At no point does it say that you cannot do intercontinental jumps. It just involves a lot of focus.

Also, in this Chapter, we meet a character from the Wizarding World who's willing to help Harry out. There will be more, particularly after the first _X-Men _film, which we'll see in a couple of chapters time, but for now...

Also, if I mentioned that the character featured appeared in Chapter 5 at Grimmauld Palace, then I'm going to have to go back over and remove their name at some point, because he/she wasn't meant to be there. Potential Author screw-up alert.

And, one more thing – Apologies for the delay. I'm busy with _NaNoWriMo _at the moment, working on my original novel rather than this, so as a result, the update time has become increasingly longer. Hopefully after November this will return to normal form.

**Chapter Nine: Defence of the X-Mansion (P1)**

_**I**_

"So, what are you guys, some sort of mutant vigilantes?" Harry asked, climbing to his feet. Natasha was close behind, and the jet was already airborne, leaving the dragon alone in the skies above London. "And what are we going to do about the Aurors? They could catch us."

"I'd like to see them catch us in this jet," the sunglasses-wearing man, Cyclops, boasted. "We'll be back to the States in no time."

There was a moments of silence after Cyclops had made his boast. Harry looked at Natasha, and for a moment, they both were relieved to be out of constant action for a while. Here there was somewhere that they might be safe, might be considered equals. Maybe Harry was being too quick to judge, but they could worry about disposing the Horcrux later. It was safe in his bag for now, not harming anyone. "Alright," he said. "Where are you taking us? Because if you haven't noticed, the last time I went to the States I got kidnapped, and then the next time my house got burnt down."

"You should be safe with us," explained Jean Grey. "The Professor's friends with the American Magical Government. He's made sure that wards protect us from the outside world. Nobody will find us here."

Harry frowned. "My parents thought they were safe, and then they found Riddle on their doorstep."

"Riddle?"

"Evil Dark Lord. Can't call him by his full name because he's got a taboo on it and they'll find us," explained Harry. "Even in this Jet. So, where are we headed? Some kind of safe house, military installation?"

"Xavier's School for the Gifted and Talented," explained Jean. Harry noticed that all throughout this, Xavier was remaining silent, as if observing the conversation. The Jet was on auto-pilot it seemed, as there was currently nobody at the cockpit, even though Cyclops was strapping himself in. "We teach mutants. Like your Hogwarts, only less bigots."

"So you know about England's history then," Harry enquired, and Jean nodded.

"It disgusts me, but there's little we can do about it right now," Jean replied. "Especially as we've seen more magicals displaying mutant powers in the past decade. We've got about five magical students here as well, so we ended up hiring in a magical professor."

"Oh, really? Who are they?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. This was new.

"You might know her as Nymphadora Tonks," explained Xavier, speaking for the first time. "You'll be pleased to know that not everyone in the Order follows Albus Dumbledore. The ability of metamorphism is actually an element of mutant power. Whilst Nymphadora may not have the same amount of the X-Gene that is in myself or Scott, she does display it to a certain level. Enough to be persecuted in the Magical World."

"But she's an Auror," Harry recalled. "And why did she come to your school? How can you be sure that she's not working for the Order?"

"Because I can read her mind," said Xavier simply. "As to her reasoning to coming here, I am afraid that it is not at my disclosure to say. You will have to ask her. Assuming of course, you wish to reveal your presence to her."

"Looks like I don't have much of a choice," Harry said. "Is there any chance we could stay at your School for a while? It's just that we're wanted pretty much everywhere else, and it'll take a while to set up alternate identities when we get back to England after the fact we just broke into their premier wizarding bank. Not to mention that Riddle's followers will be pissed off with us."

"You're more than welcome to stay," Xavier replied. "I will inform the students of your somewhat... unique situation. And Natasha, is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, it's fine," she replied. "Although, I'm not a mutant. And I take it you know that I'm the Black Widow right? What if some kids find out? They won't want to be near an ex-Assassin."

"I will have that taken care of," Professor Xavier responded, and looked over his shoulder. "Ah look, we've arrived."

'_Bloody hell, that's quick,' _Harry thought, as the jet that they were currently in descended downwards for the first time since their arrival.

_**II**_

Once they had landed, Jean led Harry and Natasha through the main hallways of the School. The School, which Harry observed, was more like a mansion than a school, and he thought that the X-Men were very lucky to have this place, and to have a very good cover for their pupils to train their mutant gifts. 'So,' Harry was the first person to speak. 'Where's Tonks? Might as well get the part out of the way. What's the bet that she has a mini heart attack when she sees me, and thinks that I'm my brother?"

Natasha smiled and said, "You're on. Five dollars."

"Five dollars it is," Harry responded. Jean, having obviously heard the exchange behind her back, chose to ignore it and knocked three times on the door in front of them, which presumably led to the classroom on the other side. Moments later, it was opened, revealing a large, open space with views of the field behind, complete with transparent doors. There were several seats around the room but not very many of them were full, and Harry presumed that this was the magical course. At the front of the room, a pink-haired woman in her mid-twenties saw them enter and looked up. To Harry's cost, she didn't make any startling reaction when she saw him, earning a smile form Natasha.

"Alright class," Nymphadora Tonks said, snapping the textbook that she was using for her lesson together sharply, and announcing, "You guys can end this lesson early today. Jean wants to speak about something important."

There were a couple of outbursts at this from a pair of twelve year olds sitting at the front of the classroom, a blonde-haired girl and a dark-skinned boy who Harry didn't know the name of. However, not asking further questions, they packed their bags and left. Once the door was closed behind them, Tonks addressed Jean, directly. "So, what've you got for me this time, Jean?"

"Tell me Tonks. How much do you know about Harry Potter?"

"Well, I know that he's standing right next to you,' Tonks replied, smugly. 'And I know that... whoops."

As she was saying those words, the ex-Hufflepuff put her hands down on the table that she was using for a desk and managed to knock her empty glass cup of tea off the table with a sweep. Wincing as it hit the floor, Tonks said, "Sorry. I'm accident prone. You probably know that by now."

'I'm fully aware of that,' Jean said, just as Tonks cast the _Reparo _charm at the broken cup. As expected, it repaired itself in seconds. "Harry here has already finished School, so you won't have to teach him. Natasha's a mundane, so you don't have to worry about her. I was just letting you know about the potential difficulties that this situation could create, especially if you thought Harry here was actually his brother."

"I may be clumsy, but I can tell apart twins," Tonks replied. "I tried to befriend him as well, in his first year, don't know if you remember Harry. But then my friend wanted to go and see the _real _Boy Who Lived."

She didn't say it as though she was attacking him; she said it as though her friend was stupid for thinking that Michael was the Boy Who Lived. "As it turns out, the real Boy Who Lived is an arrogant sod, and if he's really our saviour, then _god help us all._"

As soon as Tonks said those words, all the lights in the X-Mansion went out, plunging the whole building into an eerie darkness, illuminated only by the occasional burning fireplace. As it was dark outside, Harry assumed that the students had been staying late for extra lessons, or Tonks had ordered them to, probably the former rather than the latter as Harry didn't believe that Tonks was the forceful type. "I guess that's not meant to happen," Natasha said, glancing across at Tonks, but it was Jean who answered.

"No, it's not," Jean replied.

"_Lumos," _Tonks uttered, and her wand sparked into life, projecting light around the room. Harry did the same in order to generate maximum impact.

"We should suit up," Jean said, glancing at Tonks. "In case it isn't _just _a Power Cut."

"Yeah, good idea," Tonks replied. "I'll take Harry and Natasha to the Professor."

That was when a statement by Charles Xavier was broadcast throughout the whole of the X-Mansion, through everybody's minds. _"I am sorry to disturb you but it is important to take note that the Mansion is under attack. All students must relocate immediately from their beds to the safe room where we will protect you from the invaders."_

Then, there was an announcement that followed, "_I am sending this message to all members of the X-Men and guests of the School for the Gifted Youngsters. I have detected an early warning signal and it appears that the Court of Nightmares is attacking en masse at the front gate. Assemble in full costume and meet me there."_

Harry shared Natasha's shocked look. The Court of Nightmares, here? How? This place was meant to be safe, protected. Questions would no doubt be asked, but now was not the time, particularly if there was nobody left to answer them. The Court were bold in attacking the headquarters of the X-Mansion, that was for sure. "Let's suit up," Jean replied. "Quickly as possible guys. Tonks, head to the safe room and try and get as many students there as you can. Harry, Natasha. With me."

"We're ready this time, right? We know what to expect?" Natasha asked Harry, looking far more confident than he felt. "I mean, they can't throw anything worse at us than zombies and nightmares, can they?"

"Let's hope not," Harry said, grimly, and dashed out of the now-deserted classroom after Natasha, Jean and Tonks.

_**II**_

As it turned out, the Court of Nightmares did have a _lot _worse things to throw at them than zombies and nightmares, but the X-Men and their new allies would not find that out until later.

Because the first wave that was launched upon Xavier's Mansion was the zombies. "Aim for the head!" Harry warned his and Natasha's new allies as they approached the front gate, dressed respectively as The Magician and Black Widow. He noticed that Cyclops, Professor X and Storm were there, being the main X-Men responsible for the defence of the Mansion. Jean had arrived with Harry and Natasha, so now they stood six members strong.

Against a seemingly numberless horde.

This wasn't going to be pretty, but it would have to be essential unless the X-Men wanted the Court of Nightmares to gain access to their home. Almost immediately, Cyclops obeyed, and up went his glasses.

Red light surged out of his eyes, causing several zombies' heads to explode on impact. Storm was proving her namesake and creating a storm, which was whipping up all the zombies in her path and then dropping them from impossible-to-survive-from heights, over the open field space.

Jean and Professor X could do little, as in order to control someone's mind, they had to _have a mind _in the first place, which was something that the zombies lacked, so they were reduced to helping their fellow X-Men until such opportunities did present themselves. Harry was using a combination of magical spells to blast heads and bits of bodies off the zombies, whilst Natasha stuck to her pistols, which whilst disapproved of by the X-Men, was ultimately viewed a necessary evil.

But it still wouldn't be enough.

Because no matter how hard they tried to defend themselves, the zombies just kept coming, a seemingly endless swarm that would eventually overwhelm the defenders. And then, things started to get worse, when the ground shook beneath their feet.

"What the hell's this?" Harry asked, doing his best to maintain his balance whilst focusing on the attacking zombies. Suddenly, he watched in horror as the zombies began to get thrown back from where they were charging as a new foe revealed itself to the world. Instantly, he recognised what it was. A Basilisk. "It's a basilisk! Don't look at it directly in the eyes!"

Instantly, the X-Men obeyed, diverting their attentions to the zombies. "Professor, can you get inside its head?"

"It appears that I cannot," Professor X replied, looking disappointed. "Jean and I will withdraw to make sure that the students are safe. From your memory you have encountered a Basilisk before, I can tell."

"Yeah. Got it with Gryffindor's Sword. But Dumbledore's Phoenix blinded it first, and one of its fangs nearly took my arm off."

Cyclops suddenly unleashed a burst of red fire at tha basilisk from eyes, avoiding maintaining contact – but had to divert his gaze moments later when the basilisk turned its attention on him. And then, in the distance – helicopters. The sound of the rotor blades could be heard from even in the midist of the chaos, and the X-Men were slowly being pushed back one by one. Salvation? Had the cavalry arrived for the X-Men?

Almost. The cavalry had arrived, but it had arrived bearing the colours of the Court of Nightmares. Well, it didn't exactly have any specific heraldry painted on the outside, but it was clear that by the way they were suddenly producing machine guns from the side of where the doors would be on all but one of the helicopters, it was clear that they were not suddenly the X-Men's new best friends.

"Tactical withdrawal?" offered Harry, for the zombies were now completely overwhelming the gate and the basilisk was still posing a threat. It was a miracle that nobody on the X-Men's side had died yet, given the overwhelming odds.

Then, a voice, eerie and frighteningly loud, echoed throughout the whole of the Mansion, and there was no mistake as to who it belonged to. Moriarty. The master of the Court of Nightmares. Somebody that scared Harry and Natasha more than Voldemort ever would. _"I trust you are getting acquainted with my new ally? It appears you won't be sticking around to see it for very long. Oh, Harry, Natasha. If you wanted to be truly protected, you should have gone to the Asgardians. But fate brought you to this pathetic band of mutants, and it is here where I shall end your newfound allies. Even the might of Charles Xavier shall not be able to stop my ascendance, and with you and the Black Widow at my side, we can move into phase two. Domination."_

Almost as he said the words _Domination, _the bullets opened fire in unison, fired from the two helicopters into the ranks of the X-Men, like a never ending stream of death. Harry raised a shield charm, but even he would not be able to stop them all from hitting his allies.

And then, they suddenly stopped. As if by magic, the bullets actually froze in midair, causing the X-Men on the ground to get distracted from the momentarily assault of the ground forces to look up at what could have possibly a miracle. Or, not quite a miracle. "Erik," Harry heard Charles Xavier breath, as the bullets suddenly turned themselves around so they were now facing the helicopters, and away from the X-Men. "It appears you have answered my call."

"I'm afraid I cannot let you fall, Charles," a voice from the X-Mansion echoed, not quite as loud as Moriarty's but enough so the X-Men could hear. In all his glory, the helmet-wearing Magneto advanced, supported by his allies in the Brotherhood of Mutants. Xavier fed Harry their names and powers in his head in less than a second, and soon Harry knew more about them than he ever thought he would do. Mystique was the blue-skinned one; Sabretooth was the man who reminded Harry oddly of a werewolf, and Toad – the latest, stood above the roof of the X-Mansion grappling onto it with his feet. More Mutants, not just those of the Brotherhood – had also answered the call of Charles Xavier, and Harry identified Hank McCoy as Beast, among several others appearing from out of the shadows. Havok, Emma Frost, Banshee – all to rescue the aid of the attacked mutants. It seemed that the zombies and the Basilisk had momentarily halted their seemingly endless assault, as if their commander, Moriarty – was holding them back. The Basilisk had even turned its gaze away from the mutants, and both sides stood at a standstill, with the length of two drawn swords all that separating them from the front line. "Or at least," Magneto added, "Not by the hand of The Court."

And then, Moriarty spoke.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

_**Next time on Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Chapter 10: **_**The Defence of the X-Mansion (Part Two): **_With reinforcements, can Harry, Natasha and the X-Men hold out against the swarm of the Court of Nightmares? Where is Moriarty, and what role will he have to play in the finale to the first arc of _Earth's Mightiest Heroes!

So, hope you liked it. Remember to review, review, and the story probably won't be updated as fast as I would like – because of NaNoWriMo. And I'm going to see _Skyfall _as well today, so it should be awesome.


	11. Defence of the X-Mansion - P2

**THE COURT OF NIGHTMARES**

Chapter Ten: Defence of the X-Mansion – P2

_**I**_

"_Ah, it seems that you think you may have me surprised_," Moriarty's shout echoed across the entire X-Mansion. "_That now you are saved by your newfound reinforcements. But trust me, you are mistaken_. _I hold all the cards here, and I still have my ace in the hole."_

"And what would that ace be?" Magneto questioned, raising an eyebrow at the helicopter that Moriarty was speaking from. There was a moments of silence, in which Magneto decided to exploit it, sending the bullets in the choppers direction with terrifying speed. "Because I can assure you, it won't be able to withstand me and my Brotherhood."

"_Erik Lensherr. Come to save your old friend," _Moriarty taunted, seemingly uncaring for the fact that the several bullets were soaring towards him. "_If any one of those bullets touch the helicopters, then let me tell you that you are going to regret doing so. Because if the Helicopters fall, then they will unleash a powerful weapon that will drive all of your mutants mad and insane. And your friend Xavier will not be able to stop them when they eat away at their own skin, clawing it away in attempt to numb the pain even making use of their own powers to do so. And in the case of some mutants, I understand that such an attempt would be very fatal indeed."  
_

"Very well," Magneto responded, not willing to take the risk that Magneto could be lying. "I'll direct it on your troops."

The basilisk roared, but Magneto managed to pull off the assault with the controlled bullets anyway, destroying a large section of the zombies as battle began anew.

"Magician!" Cyclops shouted in his direction, trying to direct his laser-beam eyes at the oncoming zombies. "How do you kill the basilisk?"

"With the Sword of Gryffindor," explained Harry. "Which is currently in a _very secure _location in Scotland – and unfortunately, is the only one of its kind."

To his left, Harry caught sight of Natasha engaging three zombies at once. She was starting to show fatigue, but kept fighting – they both knew what was at stake here. Their freedom. Harry did not want to become another of Moriarty's lackeys, and neither did she. "Well so much for that," Cyclops replied, frowning. "We could try concentrating all our firepower on it. Would that work?"

"That would open up the zombies to attack," Harry replied with a frown. "Unless... I have an Idea. The Professor probably knows what it is already. Moriarty's in that helicopter, right?"

"I'm guessing so," Cyclops replied, but found himself talking to nothing. Harry was gone, having vanished in thin air. The mutant didn't have time to react as instantly, several zombies hurled themselves at Scott Summers – forcing him to blast them all back with his laser-eyes. Harry had vanished, and Cyclops knew where he had went.

_**II**_

"Moriarty!" yelled Harry, apparating inside the helicopter, glancing around at its interior. There was clearly some sort of bomb attachment inside the helicopter, proving Moriarty's story. However, there was also something else which Harry didn't notice immediately – a television set. Three. The clothes that Harry recalled Moriarty wearing from when he had first encountered the leader of the Court of Nightmares were there, but there was nobody wearing them. They were propped up to resemble a man, with a cheap, old-looking television placed where the head should be.

The static that filled the television was replaced moments later with a sound of cackling laughter, pre-recorded, in a voice that was not Moriarty's own, but from somewhere else. Then, Moriarty spoke through the television set, revealing his face to Harry.

And Harry nearly gasped in surprise when he saw who Moriarty really was. "Okay. You got me there, I have to admit. I never expected _you _to be Moriarty, of all people."

Looking directly at Harry Potter was the blonde-haired face of Gildeory Lockheart. But then, as Moriarty – Lockheart? Spoke his next words, his face began to change. "_Ah, but I was never truly Lockheart, Harry. That was a disguise, of course. I am a_ _metamorphmagus, like your new friend Nymphadora. Did you really think someone other than me would be able to pull off the act of a fraud right under Dumbledore's nose?"  
_

That made things infinitely more complicated. They were now facing an enemy that could change shape and voice in a very similar way to Mystique, who was currently fighting several zombies down below the helicopter, out of Harry's sight. "_And I have to say though – it all played out remarkably well. I'm rather pleased of my acting skills with that backfired spell – Did you really think that I would truly allow myself to lose my memories_?"

'_Professor,' _Harry thought, hoping that Moriarty wasn't a mind reader as well. _'Be on your guard – Moriarty can shape-change!'_

"I'm afraid your mutant Professor will do you no good here," Moriarty replied. "As soon as you entered the helicopter, the null-field established around it is preventing the outside world from hearing your warnings. Whilst I cannot read minds unlike my allies, I don't need to be a genius to deduce that you would logically try to warn another mind-reader."

"Call off the attack," Harry ordered, surprised at how confident his tone felt. "What have the X-Men done to you to deserve your wrath?"

"They have prevented me from getting to you," retorted Moriarty. His face was now resembling that of Sirius Black, Harry's godfather. In name only, for if any outsider was to be believed, Sirius was Michael Potter's godfather, and certainly not Harry's. "I will call off the attack, if you come to me. _Alone. Failure to do so will result in a nuclear launch of all missiles around the globe simultaneously at your location. Even your friend Erik Lensherr will not be able to stop such an attack."  
_

"You can't do that," insisted Harry, disbelievingly.

"_Oh, can I_?" Moriarty replied, raising an eyebrow. "_There is no such thing as secrecy anymore, Harry James Potter. I know everything. I know everything. I know where Lord Voldemort keeps his horcruxes. I know Nick Fury's weakness, and I know who killed Dumbledore's little sister. You know, the old fool was once best friends with Gellert Grindlewald. And Gellert Grindlewald was not the man responsible for the death of his sister, funnily enough."  
_

"Who's Nick Fury? Actually, never mind," Harry said, slightly curious by the fact that Dumbledore had a little sister but now was not the time to talk. More zombies were arriving soon. Cursing his saving-people thing, Harry decided to give in. "I'll do it. Call off the attack and I'll come to you. But, where are-"

Harry vanished from the helicopter before he could finish his sentence. "-you?"

_**III**_

_Home. _Harry thought, finding himself in surprisingly, Godric's Hollow, outside his house that had all been destroyed when Lord Voldemort attacked on that fatal Halloween night. Abandoned by the Potters a mere day later for a newly-built Manor, Godric's Hollow hadn't been used as a place of residence since the night which decided how the rest of Harry's life would play out.

His wand was drawn already, and as he walked through the grass towards the ruined home. He would not be caught off guard like he had been with Natasha in New York. He would be ready for anything. The door creaked as he entered the house, and he felt his hairs on the back of his neck prick up. Was this even real? This could just be another nightmare conjured by the Court. There were so many possibilities, and so little certainties that the brother of the Boy Who Lived could decide upon.

He touched the barely intact door handle, nervously – and pushed it open. As the door fell back, the place flooded with eerie light. As if by magic, everything was repairing itself to a fully restored, fully functional and fully equipped Godric's Hollow – which was when Harry's worst fears were confirmed. It was a dream. Or a nightmare. Or something worse.

"Harry?" a red-haired woman greeted him as he walked into the kitchen. It was recognisably his aged mother, standing there – smiling at him. That was what should have given Harry the hint that it was a dream – his mother never smiled at him anymore. But something in him made him want to go forward towards his mother anyway, even when he would have – in any other situation, ran for the hills. "Where have you been?"

"I've been... away," he replied, weakly. This was new. He'd never experienced something like this before. Yet still, there was a part of his mind edging him, warning him that this screamed _Trap! _But he paid it no heed, at least – until his brother came around the corner, along with his father, who sported round glasses that his brother used to have when he was a child. That was when the _Trap! _Instinct fully overcame the false one, and he exclaimed, "Get out of my head!"

"What's wrong, brother?" Wrong. Michael. Wrong. They seemed to be confused. Caring. Maybe this was – no. Wrong.

"_Stupefy_!" Harry shouted, just to see how they would react, casting the spell at Michael, who deflected it instantly. _'Huh. So not the real Michael. That much was obvious. The real one would have dodged out of the way.' _There was never any doubt really as to whose game he was playing. It had been Moriarty's. All along, Moriarty's rules and Moriarty's results.

'_Let's change the rules;_' thought Harry, with a smile, curious to see that his 'parents' didn't react over the attack. Or at least, not immediately. They shed their skin, decaying into dust, as though they hadn't been human at all. Maybe they hadn't been.

Then, laughter. "_Nobody plays by the rules anymore, Harry Potter. You should learn that by now. Time to adapt. Time to change. Chaos is a friend of mine, after all."_

The spotless, clean room that had once been the Potter's kitchen changed once more, and Harry now found himself back in... Normality? That was what it looked like, for the Potter Household was currently looking like a bomb had gone off in every room. "Show yourself, you bastard."

"_Very well," _Moriarty's voice echoed from behind him, and Harry spun around, wand firmly clasped in his hand, in order to take into account the figure behind him. _"Look upon me. Look upon what I really am."  
_

A child. A black-haired, cheek-bruised child, wearing a grey tee-shirt too big for him along with baggy jeans. Harry hesitated, realising that this was none other than a younger version of himself, too skinny to be a normal child, too frightened to be a happy one. "Liar! End this game now, Moriarty! Come and face me!"

"_Very Well. As you wish. It's time to wake up now, Harry Potter. Time to wake _UP."

**IV**

A large sound could be heard, but the source could not be seen. Harry instantly recalled it to be water falling, a full – torrential downpour. He himself wasn't getting wet, which allowed him to jump to the conclusion that it was a waterfall. Waterfall. Moriarty.

"The Reichenbach Falls? Is that where we are?"

Moriarty clapped, a slow and steady beat, coming from in front of him. Noticing for the first time that he was lying face down on the floor, the brother of the Boy Who Lived hauled himself to his feet, his wand instantly at the ready. "I trust you are aware of the story of Sherlock Holmes. How he fell to his death in these very falls."

"Yes," replied Harry. "Your namesake, right? Are you meant to be the Napoleon of Crime?"

"Not many teenagers these days read classics, Harry – I'm impressed," Harry James Potter took in the suit-wearing, grey-haired man with confusion. This was the _real _Moriarty? The real, non-metamorphmagus Moriarty?

"I on the other hand, an unimpressed. Please tell me that's not who you truly are. An old man way past his prime."

"I am growing tired of this game, Harry. Of life," confessed Moriarty. "Everybody is just too slow for me these days. _Everybody._ Albus Dumbledore, the manipulative old fool, and Tom Marvalo Riddle. They think themselves the greatest wizards to have lived, the lords of light and dark respectively. But they are wrong. I am the lord of light and dark. I am the lord of matter, the lord of _everything. _And... It tires me. It _bores _me."

"Well why don't you jump off that cliff, then – you bastard? Why did you attack Xavier's? Was it just because you were _bored_? And why were you aiding Riddle?"

"I like to think of life as a game of chess," explained Moriarty. "One move there, the next move here... and once all the pieces fall into place, it begins to get rather _dull. _Predictable. Events will play out as they are made to play out and nothing will be new anymore, nothing will be _exciting._ All these moves played in the wizarding world was to get you here, you know. I have had this planned out for a long time."

"Why me? Why not my brother?"

"He is not the real Boy Who Lived," Moriarty replied. "Oh, it was a great game. I managed to convince even the great, almighty _Albus Dumbledore _that you were weak, worthless – almost. A couple of powerful compulsion charms on your parents and then... it's amazing how much unwitting participants can do to help you on you goal. Once the ball starts rolling, it never stops."

"You mean, you ruined my life. Without your intervention, I would have lived a normal life? What about Natasha?"

"I'm beginning to think you're starting to fall for that girl, Harry," Moriarty smiled, and despite himself – he blushed. "Maybe one day. She is rather pretty after all. But I fear you will not live to see her again."

Harry couldn't help himself. He laughed. He _knew _something that Moriarty did not. He actually _knew _something that could prove to be a crucial gameplay that could give him a _huge _advantage. And that look actually caught Moriarty by surprise. "You're laughing? You weren't meant to laugh, Harry Potter. I know I hate to sound like some comic book super villain, explaining everything all out to you – but _its all part of the plan. _And you... you are not playing by my rules anymore."

"I was never playing by your rules," replied Harry, with a smile, and produced something from his left pocket, causing Moriarty to look surprised. "Evidently, you don't pay that much attention. This is a homing beacon, which I've just activated. There was a reason why I let you talk, _Moriarty_. Your name isn't even original."

"_This is Nymphadora Tonks, reporting in. Is that how the muggles say it? And bloody hell, I can't believe that I'm actually doing this," _the voice of the female, ex-Auror crackled into Harry's head as the Blackbird soared into view, Tonks navigating it with surprisingly good skill. "_So, where should I shoot?"  
_

"At Moriarty, preferably," Harry replied – presuming that she could hear him thanks to the fact that the woman was a witch, with a small smile, and watched the female metamorphmagus blast several shots at the man who had made his and Natasha's life hell. It was oddly satisfying, in the way that she did it, and the brother of the Boy Who Lived was startled by the fact that _she actually _had the willpower to kill somebody, and wondered if Professor X had given her the order or not. Probably not.

The look of surprise on Moriarty's face was one that Harry wished he could have captured. He wondered what the man had been thinking, coming here un-armed, unprotected. But then again, he had _suggested _that he had come here in one final hurrah. Harry just hadn't him expected to be fooled so easily.

Harry stayed to make sure that the body was recovered. And when it was, he _personally _made sure by casting several more Avada Kedavra curses than necessary at the corpse, before dropping it off the edge of the Reichenbach Falls.

And only then was his mission accomplished. Moriarty was dead, and Tonks was just getting reports that with his death, the zombies and the basilisk had seemingly _vanished from existence, _and the Brotherhood of Mutants had left along with various other mutants who were not part of the X-Men but had turned up at the Professor's request.It seemed a far too easy victory to be true, but that was the best they could hope for right now.

And Natasha and Harry quickly became permanent residents at Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted and Talented, and as the weeks went by, they believed that for the first time in a long time, if not ever – they were well and truly safe.

Until when they were interrupted from a lesson, three weeks later by the Professor. Who told them that two new, different and unrelated mutants had been found in Canada, and were at the mercy of the Brotherhood of Mutants.

And their names were Marie D'Ancanto, currently known as Rogue, and Logan. Otherwise known as Wolverine.

_**THE END OF THE COURT OF NIGHTMARES STORY ARC  
**_

Wow, that took me a while to write, and I'm not too happy with the ending (I might re-write the last few paragraphs or so depending on the reaction at a later date). I'll also probably revisit the Court of Nightmares in the future at some point (there's a reason why Moriarty was defeated so easily), but for now, their storyline is done. Which means, as you can probably work out from the appearance of Rogue and Wolverine, that we're moving onto _X-Men 1. _I plan to keep this as close to the canon as I can, but Harry and Natasha's involvement will change a few things of course. Nothing too drastic, but the changes should be noticeable.

And then, after _X-Men 1 _(which _should _take between 5-10 chapters to do)_, _we will return to England, and the Wizarding World – in _The Magician Ascendant, _where the focus will be shifted back to Harry and Natasha again.

Don't be afraid to review.


	12. Washington DC

_**Earth's Mightiest Heroes**_

So this is it. The first Marvel film that we'll be covering. I'm definitely covering _X-Men _and _X2, _but whether I do _X3 _or not will depend on how much I enjoy it come the inevitable re-watch, because the last time around I watched it, I currently view it as the worst Marvel film to date, which was a tremendous disappointment considering that _X2 _is my favourite apart from _The Avengers. _But _X3 _will be a long way to come yet, as we need to do the first film, then _The Magician Ascendant _story arc, then _X2, _and then another (currently planned, may change), 5-chapter-long arc entitled _The Fall._

But that's the future. Right now, this is the present. Or rather, the past – as _X1 _isn't set in 2012. It's a good film though, and if anyone hasn't seen any of the X-Men films then go out and watch them. Apart from _Origins: Wolverine _and _X3. _Just watch 1 and 2, and then _First Class._

Thank me later.

Also, I own nothing that you recognise.

**X-MEN 1**

**Chapter Eleven: Washington DC **

"_Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, and normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward." _~Professor Charles Xavier

_**I**_

A room. Washington DC. Harry stood from above, watching Jean Grey's speech below, and he didn't need to be among the geniuses to see that the woman was losing the battle. For mutant rights. For mutants to be accepted. He could see Senator Kelly sitting in the front row, the hearing's chairman. And behind him, he had been informed that the man was named Henry Guyrich, a man in his mid thirties. Next to him, observing from the balcony – was the red-haired teenager, a normal - Natasha Romanoff.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now seeing the beginnings of another stage of human evolution," Jean Grey's voice echoed throughout the room. "These mutations manifest at puberty, often triggered by heightened emotional stress."

"Thank you, Miss Grey. It was quite educational," Senator Kelly began. "However, it fails to address the issue that is the focus of this hearing. Three words: Are mutants dangerous?"

"I'm afraid that's an unfair question, Senator Kelly. After all, the wrong person behind the wheel of a car can be dangerous."

"Well, we do license people to drive."

"Yes, but not to live. Senator, It is a fact that mutants who have come forward and revealed themselves publicly, have been met with fear, hostility – even violence. It is because of that ever present hostility that I am urging the Senate to vote against mutant registration. To force mutants to expose themselves will only further subject-"

"Expose themselves?" Senator Kelly interrupted Jean, rudely and again. "What is it that the mutant community has to hide I wonder that makes them so afraid to identify themselves?"

"I didn't say they were hiding," replied Jean in response – but before she could continue, Kelly was there again.

"Let me show you what is being hidden, Miss Grey. I have a list of names of the unidentified mutants living right here in the United States."

"Senator Kelly-"

He wasn't listening. "Here's a girl in Illinois who can walk through walls. Now what's to stop her from walking into a bank vault? Or into the White House? Or into their houses?"

He gestured to the men and women gathered around him, before continuing, "And there are even rumours of mutants so powerful that they can enter our minds and control our thoughts, taken away our god-given free well."

He was really appealing to the crowd now, and Harry didn't need to be a genius that Jean was virtually getting the door slammed in her face. He betted that Kelly had made and planned his speech without taking into account anything that Jean would say. "I think that the American people deserve the right to decide whether they want their children to be in school by mutants, to be taught by mutants."

Clapping. Wincing, Harry looked across the auditorium at Professor Xavier, who like Natasha and himself, was not joining in. When the applause died down, Kelly continued his tirade. "Ladies and gentlemen, the truth is that mutants are very real. And they are among us, and we must know who they are. And above all, we must know what we can do."

"That's right!" one of the Senators shouted – female by the sound of the voice, and clapping ensured again. Louder, and more powerful. There were even a few whistles. Jean was looking nervous, and Harry could see the Professor glancing around at a figure who promptly put a hat on his head, and walked away.

He recognised the other old man instantly, and whispered to Natasha. "Magneto's here."

"I see him," observed Natasha. "Come, let's follow them."

Harry and Natasha turned, and walked out from the raised balcony where they were stood along with several other humans, male and female, all wearing formal clothing like themselves.

_**II**_

A walkway, elsewhere. Light shone as the greying, old Erik Lensherr walked down the path, cloak flapping at his heels. Not in costume, and alone. He stopped when he heard a voice calling him, calling him by his name. "Erik."

"What are you doing here?" Professor Xavier asked, directing his attention at the man.

"Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answers?" The old man responded, his face still not turned around in the direction of the wheelchair-bound man.

"Don't give up on them, Erik."

"What would you have me do, Charles?" Erik responded, seconds later. "And I see you have brought you latest recruits with you as well, Harry Potter and Natasha Romanoff, I understand?"

Both teenagers said nothing, as Erik continued. "I've heard these arguments before."

"It was a long time ago. Mankind has evolved since then."

"Yes. Into us. Are you sneaking around in here, Charles?" Erik asked, raising his hands to tap the side of his head. "Whatever are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for hope."

"I will bring you hope, old friend. And I will ask one thing in return. Don't get in my way," replied Erik, and having turned around before starting to speak, he now turned back again, and stalked off, but not before declaring, "We are the future, Charles!" Not them! They no longer matter!"

Charles Xavier turned back to Harry and Natasha on his wheelchair after the man had left. "Thank you for keeping your peace, Harry. Natasha. This was between me and Erik. Tell me, what did you think of the meeting? You both chose to come here, after all."

"I think... we've got some work to do," Harry replied, ominously. _'If that's their reactions to girls who can walk through walls, I wonder what it'll be to immortal teenagers and mind-reading Professors.' _"Natasha?"

"Well, I'm not a mutant, so I wouldn't have to sign my name up on the records," she said, before continuing. "Although I can see why this would prove problematic. If the law does go through, it won't be long before we get anti-mutant killings."

"Well, we had best hope it doesn't come to that then," Professor Xavier replied. "In the meantime, I suggest we had better get back home. I have a class to teach soon."

_**III**_

It was snowing in this part of Canada, and a large campervan was on the move, containing two mutants who had no idea as to what their roles would be in the upcoming weeks. For now, they were on the road. No threat, no nothing. Or at least... "You should wear your seatbelt."

"Look, kid. I don't need advice on how to-"

The campervan promptly hit a fallen tree, causing the two inhabitants, Marie D'Ancanto and the mutant know only as Wolverine, to get thrown forward in their seats – Wolverine, promptly lacking a seatbelt, went completely through the window and onto the thick snow on the other side, hitting it in a crumpled heap before sliding a considerable distance through the same thing that had now delayed their journey. In the campervan, Marie – known to Wolverine as Rouge, gradually recovered from her own accident – only to find that something had caught fire in the back.

Seeing Wolverine seemingly unconscious on the snow, her face widened in shock as he began to recover, hauling himself to his feet, and she could only watch as the blood on his forehead began to vanish as he staggered towards her.

As the older mutant walked closer, she realised that her seatbelt was jammed – something was stopping her from pulling free. "You alright?" Wolverine asked, curiously. Hearing no response, he asked again – "Kid, are you alright?"

"I'm stuck!"

Wiping his forehead, Wolverine advanced towards the van. Glancing at the fallen tree and seeing that it had been cut down, he sniffed, sensing that something was wrong. Looking up at the trees, it wasn't long before he sniffed again. Something was certainly wrong – he'd caught a familiar sent. And out came his claws, the metal Adamantium that was part of his hands. Then, there was a loud roar. Something hurled itself out of the trees towards the older mutant, who instantly leapt into action and brought his claws to face the oncoming threat.

However, it didn't work, as he was easily picked up by the man who if possible, looked even more like an animal than Logan, and thrown backwards into the trees on the other side from where the blonde-haired man had come from. Trapped in the van, Rogue could only watch on with growing horror, no matter how many times she tried to struggle as the fire grew.

Just as Wolverine hurled himself back onto his feet, he found himself brutally thrown back onto the front of the van, forcing him to withdraw his claws, seemingly unconscious. Then, the animal/man known as Sabretooth advanced towards the two, as Rogue struggled – helpless in the car.

And then, the wind howled, and unknowingly for Rogue and Wolverine, salvation had arrived. Four mutants were standing there, in the background. Two adults, one dark skinned, one wearing glasses – the other two teenagers, both outfitted in their own X-Men uniform. Cyclops, Storm, The Black Widow and the Magician.

But the teenagers were seemingly just there for observation, as Cyclops brought his glasses to bear, freeing Rogue, whilst Storm dispatched of Sabretooth bringing the elements under control. And it was the Black Widow who offered the teenager a hand, and the gloved mutant took it with a look of confusion and relief on her face.

Cyclops and The Magician were left to deal with Wolverine, and they hauled the unconscious man off the front of the campervan before it had the time to explode. Just.

**To Be Continued...**

Alright, this is basically a copy of the movie with Harry and Natasha namedropped at certain places to allow the folks who haven't seen it to get a rough idea of what's happening. The future chapters will feature more involvement by the duo as things from the original movie start to change. How will Magneto deal with these two latest threats?

Will there be new members of the Brotherhood of Mutants? I don't know yet. They won't be OCs though; they'll be drafted in from either the comics or the movies.

Also, _All New X-Men #1 _for comics fans, has anyone read it? If so, what did they think? If not, I read it and found it to be quite enjoyable even I only read the _Avengers: X-Sanction _mini-series by Jeph Loeb and not the whole _Avengers vs. X-Men _crossover event that came before it.

No preview this Chapter, but the next one should be coming next weekend.


	13. The Heirs of Erik Lensherr

**Earth's Mightiest Heroes**

Note: I am no longer Vulkan He'stan; I'm now going under the name of the Browncoat, which is a reference to _Firefly – _my favourite TV show. Also a work of Joss Whedon, much like the _Avengers _film was. And very, very awesome.

Holy crap, it's been a while, hasn't it? Well, I've finally got past my writer's block and have decided that this fic is going to no longer be on hiatus. Hopefully So... enjoy!

And it's been a while since I saw _X-Men 1 _so the dialogue is not going to be an exact replica and the plot will hopefully diverge. I'm going over my notes to remember what I've changed and we'll see how things go from there. Remember, with two new mutants on the side of the X-Men, it seems fair that there should be two new additions on the side of Magneto and his brotherhood, and who better to pick than his family?

**X-MEN 1**

**Chapter Twelve: The Heirs of Erik Lensherr **

**I**

The first time Harry Potter met Rogue was in-between lessons a few hours after she had started to become settled in at Xavier's. "Hey," he said, raising a hand as she walked by. "You're Rogue, right?"

"Yeah."

"Harry Potter. Magician."

"Wow, you can do magic? Or is that just a name that you picked because you felt it was good?"

"Actually, it was the first name that popped into my head," Harry replied, smirking. "And yes, I can do magic. Watch. _Accio_!"

He pulled out his wand from its holster and directed it at a bag of sweets that had previously been in another mutant's back pocket. Pyro. He didn't notice they were missing until he reached for one, and turned around. "Potter?"

"Yes, Pyro?"

"Did you just take my food? You're the Magician, after all. And I don't know what your friend can do yet."

"Maybe," he replied, chucking them back at the younger mutant after a moments of silence between the two with a smile. "Oh, and this is Rogue. I don't recommend you touching her bare skin; she'll steal your powers."

He said it not in a cruel way, but more in a joking and amusing way so that even Rogue joined in the laughter. Both teenagers gathered in the hallway with him were a couple of years younger than Harry and Natasha, but the age gap didn't seem to stop them from interacting with him. And plus, after seventeen years of hardship, any friend was good – right? "So, when's your next lessons?"

"Five minutes," Pyro replied, with a frown. "Why?"

"Nothing important. You see, I would go and hang out with Natasha, but she's busy."

"Who's Natasha?"

"Black Widow. Ex famous Assassin, now reformed vigilante. Don't get on her bad side – she still knows how to kill."

"I'll bear that in mind," Rogue replied.

"Oh," Harry added. "Your friend, the one you came in with – The Professor just contacted me. Apparently he's awake now, you're welcome to go and see him."

"Thanks," she smiled. "Want to come?"

"Uh, sure," he replied. "Haven't got anything else to do."

_**II**_

"-Westchester, New York. You were attacked," Harry could hear the older Professor speaking to Wolverine, when he approached the door along with Rogue. He held up his hand to silence her. "My people brought you here for medical attention."

"I don't need medical attention."

"Yes, of course."

"Where's the girl?"

"Rogue? She's here, she's fine. In fact, she's right outside this door listening to every word I say. You know, you and Harry can come in. He won't bite."

Harry shrugged, and opened the door, Rogue following suit. She smiled at Logan, but before she could say anything, the door opened, and in walked Scott, Natasha and Ororo. "Ah, Logan. I'd like you to meet Ororo Monroe, also called Storm. This is called Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops, and the young teenagers here are Harry Potter, and Natasha Romanoff. The adults here are all members of the X-Men, and together – it is our mission to protect humanity, even though it may fear and hate our kind. The man you fought with before we found you is called Sabretooth, who works for a man named Eric Lensherr, otherwise known as Magneto, the Master of Magnetism."

"Catchy," Logan said, with a frown.

"Eric and I were once close friends," explained Xavier. "Only, he shares different interests than me, for rather than help the humans, he believes that they should be destroyed. As a result, the main goal of the X-Men is to stop _Magneto _from destroying any chance of mutantkind and humanity have of working together."

"You're telepathic, right?" Logan asked, suddenly. "Why don't you just track down Magneto by reading his mind and end it?"

"I would if I could," replied Xavier. "His mind is kept hidden from me by a helmet, and I cannot detect his presence. Nobody telepathic can. I, am as clueless as you are as to Eric Lensherr's whereabouts."

**III**

"And remind me again, why we are here?" asked Toad, as he observed the facility from a distance.

"We are here on a recruitment mission," explained Magneto, frowning. His fellow allies, Mystique and Sabretooth, were with him, and together, they were positioned just short of the reach of the torchlight used to patrol the surrounding area, all suited up as part of the Brotherhood of Mutants. "The Black Widow and the Magician have cast their lot in with Charles Xavier, so we have located two mutants who will be willing to aid our cause."

"How can you be sure they are willing to aid your cause?"

"Because they are family," replied Magneto, leaving a shocked Toad behind him as he advanced towards the soldiers gathered around the entrance, stepping out into the open, not waiting for his brotherhood to follow him. _Magneto? Family? _"Toad, Sabretooth, Mystique, with me."

The soldiers turned their weapons on the Master of Magnetism almost immediately, not knowing that it would not do them any good whatsoever. they are family,"are willing to aid your cause?"One of them, who was clearly the leader – stood confidently in front of the group, guarding the facility, wearing armour more advanced than the others with an air of superiority. As predicted, he was the one to speak first. "Well, look what we have here, boys. A bunch of muties willing to turn themselves in. If only more could be like that, hey?"

There were various laughs from around the rest of the soldiers. Whilst the rest of the world might not know what mutants are yet, that didn't stop some members of SHIELD knowing their existence. SHIELD knew all, and as far as the leader was concerned, there was nothing out there that posed a threat to the might of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. "You appear to believe that I am turning myself in, along with my counterparts," spoke the cold, calm and emotionless voice of Magneto. "But you have something of mine that I would like back, and I am here to claim them for my own."

"Them. You mean the muties that we have under lockdown?" the leader asked, with smug look on his face. "And how do you suppose getting past SHIELD's most elite soldiers, and security?"

"Your weapons are made of metal."

It wasn't a question, but the leader responded anyway. "Yes, yes they are. What has that got to do with anything?"

Toad couldn't help but chuckle at this before he was silenced by one look from Mystique, who was currently in her natural form, earning a few curious looks from the soldiers who had not spoken yet.

"_Everything,_" explained Magneto, to the confused looks of the soldiers gathered across from him. "Mutants have their own individual powers each capable of increasing their advantage over the enemy. Mystique here, she can shapeshift into any human at will. Show them, Raven."

Mystique obeyed, changing into an exact replica of the leader himself, causing a small, shocked 'o' to form on his mouth. "And Sabretooth here has super strength, whilst Toad's power is self explanatory. He is a _Toad, _after all."

"Do you not know anything about warfare at all?" the leader asked, smiling again now. "A true soldier never reveals his assets to the enemy. I believe you have just lost the element of surprise, _Magneto. _Who the hell calls themselves Magneto, anyway? You should be in a retirement home, old man."

He turned around, away from the Master of Magnetism to the rest of his fellow soldiers, unaware that that would be the last mistake he would ever make. "I told you my fellow mutant's abilities because I know you will not live to exploit them," explained Erik Lensherr, smiling for the first time.

"And what're you going to do?" sneered the soldier. "Get my own men to shoot me? You're unarmed and outnumbered-"

He never finished his sentence, for Magneto did _exactly _that, using his powers to ta into the weapons of the leader's troops, and open fire at the leader. His last expression was that of shock before he collapsed to the floor, riddled with bullet wounds. The rest of the soldiers were next, their guns turning on each other, and one by one – they were slain.

Next to be destroyed was the gate to the facility, with ease. Ripped off its hinges, it wasn't long before alarms started ringing across the base, and sounds of soldiers gathering their weapons and tanks starting into life could be heard in the distance. It didn't matter, for Erik could have taken on a whole army without the use of any backup. No, the only reason why he had allowed Toad, Mystique and Sabretooth to come with him was because _they had to see this. _The people that he was going to rescue here was his own flesh and blood, and ever since he had found about the existence of the mutants trapped in the compound, he knew he would have to rescue them someday.

A tank rolled around the corner from behind a series of army barracks, which already had soldiers bursting out of them, and opened fire on the Brotherhood of Mutants. However, Erik was able to deflect anything thrown at them back at the soldiers, who were brought down in quick succession. The next thing to be fired from the tank was turned on one of the many watchtowers around the base, and three more were brought down before the Tank's occupants realised that they were doing more harm to their own base than the four mutants.

Using this advantage, the Brotherhood entered the main compound, dispatching soldiers and guards with ease. It didn't take long before they reached the elevator, and descended down towards the prison, three floors down.

At the bottom, upon the exit – they were immediately met with gunfire. However, Magneto managed to stop all of the bullets before they reached their target – turning them once more on their owners and bringing them down in quick succession. Mystique, who had stayed above ground level in case of reinforcements, informed the Master of Magnetism via a comm.-link stolen from the guards, that there was no need to worry about anymore soldiers.

Magneto was victorious.

**IV**

Wanda Maximoff, aka The Scarlet Witch - heard gunfire outside her cell, but was unable to do anything about it due to the strong binds that she had preventing her from leaving. This naturally made her nervous as several thoughts sprung to mind, each more unlikely than the other – '_Has Quicksilver, or another mutant' – tried to escape?' 'Has someone come to rescue me?'_ To a mixture of confusion and delight, it was proved that the latter was indeed the correct one when the door to her cell was ripped off its hinges, revealing an old man, and a bunch of misfits.

Too weak to stand from the torture committed against her by the soldiers who had tortured her without mercy, she fell into a lifeless heap on the floor as soon as she was cut from the binds that were keeping her held in place on a wall **(A/N: **_For anyone who has read Uncanny Avengers #1/2 from the New Marvel Now! series by Rick Remeder, think something along the lines of what holding Rogue when she was captured by the Red Skull_**)**, she fell down – limp on the floor.

The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness altogether was the voice of the old man. "Wanda Maximoff," he spoke. "The _Scarlet Witch. _I am Erik Lensherr, the Master of Magnetism. People call me Magneto, _and _I am your father."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

So, what did you think? Yes, I'm using stuff from the comics as well and you can expect more comic-related X-Men to be introduced in future chapters as eventually (although this won't be until after the Avengers movies when we have an X-Men/Avengers cast fully established), we'll try to cover the massive Marvel crossover event _Avengers vs. X-Men, _which sadly – I still haven't yet read because I started reading Marvel comics around the Marvel Now! period.

And sorry about the delay once again, I've been suffering from a large case of writer's block for this story. Hopefully it won't happen in the future.


	14. AN - Rebooting, Not Abandoning

**EMH AN**

**A/N: **It's the dreaded Author's Note guys, and you know what that means in most cases. But here, I'm _not _abandoning _Earth's Mightiest Heroes. _After I posted Chapter 13 I recently re-read the series and yeah, I like to think my writing style has improved since then and I've since spotted several errors in the plot/etc that have been pointed out to me multiple times by reviewers.

So, here's what's going to happen. Rather than giving you a new chapter, I'm going to reboot the story, start from scratch again. Just to give you a few ideas of the changes I'm going to make:

-No Court of Nightmares for now. There are loads of Marvel villains out there as well as Voldemort to draw upon. They may make a later appearance, but for now, none.

-No X-Men for now as well. This was one of the big things that bogged down the story by introducing too many characters.

-No movie storylines. Originals with the possible exceptions of major events like _The Avengers _film. Another thing why I didn't update as quickly as I wanted to, because I had to keep re-watching _X-Men 1 _and keep taking notes on the story, rather than writing. And although _X-Men 1 _is a good film, there's only that many times that one can rewatch it.

-Smaller dramatis personae. The cast will mainly focus around Harry and Natasha as the protagonists. Certain SHIELD agents may or may not be drawn into the plot.

-A Heavier focus on the Wizarding World. I intend to take a _Game of Thrones_-esque(Not an M-rated fic though) approach to the Wizarding World style of politics and intrigue as opposed to the black/whiteness of the Harry Potter series. Most of the characters involved will _be _human. They will make mistakes, etc. They'll do bad things, they'll do good things.

-No Master of Death! Harry, but a well trained one. I'm tired of the Master of Death cliché and I thought that I'd try something new. I want a Harry who can make mistakes. He won't make ones as stupid as he did in the first few chapters of the original version, but they'll be there. You can count on that. However, he will have training. He'll be powerful, but not uber-powerful.

I think that's most of the changes that I'm going to make for now, and if there's anything else to be changed then I'll let you know. Here's a quick summary of the _new _plot for **EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES, **which will henceforth be-renamed...

_**HARRY POTTER, AGENT OF SHIELD **_

_Harry Potter is the twin brother of the Boy Who Lived. Exiled from his family after finishing his Hogwarts years, the teenager embarks on a journey into darker corners of the world than many would dare to._

_However, before he can descend fully into darkness, Harry is rescued from the abyss by SHIELD, who need a new agent with his capabilities. Given targets by his new boss, Director Nick Fury, Harry must dispatch them in any way possible. First on the list, Black Widow – a deadly, elusive female assassin. Second on his list: Lord Voldemort, the greatest Dark Lord of all time._

_No Pressure. _

The title is a working one and I will update if it gets changed when it is posted in a new story.


	15. Harry Potter - Agent of SHIELD is UP

**Earth's Mightiest Heroes Authors Note 2**

So, _Harry Potter – Agent of SHIELD _is now up. I suggest go and check it out, and let me know what you think over there.


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